Maya - An Avatar: The Last Airbender FanFiction
by Fira Wolf-Hunter
Summary: One year ago, Maya ran away from home to escape her abusive father. She lived on the streets, picking up odd jobs to survive. One day she was hired to work as a crew member on an Earth Kingdom merchant ship. When her ship was attacked and she escaped on a life boat, who should find her unconscious body floating in the water? Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. Rated M for language.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

Prince Zuko, of the Fire Nation, stood on the deck of his ship, looking out at sea. He was tired, and he was not in a good mood. Of course, he was _never_ in a good mood. It had been almost three years since his banishment, and the beginning of this endless search for the Avatar. He was sick of it, and he wanted to go home.

_Home_, he thought to himself. _What home?_ _Even if I capture the Avatar, things will never be the same again. I can't keep lying to myself like this._ Angrily, he shot a fireball into the sky from his fist.

"Is everything all right?" came a voice from behind him.

"No, Uncle," Zuko said, voice full of despair. "We've been looking for years, and there is absolutely no sign of the Avatar _anywhere_!" He threw his hands into the air. "What am I going to do?"

A rotund old man walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Iroh looked upon his nephew with pity in his eyes. He wanted to go home, too. But it was complicated, and Zuko did not like to listen to his advice. Sighing, he said, "Listen to me, Prince Zuko. If the Avatar is out there, I have no doubt that you will find him. I believe in you. Now I think it is time that you start believing in _yourself_."

Zuko yanked away from his uncle, going farther out onto the deck and resting his hands on the railing. He was about to make a rude comment to the old man, but then he looked down and saw a body in the water. Pointing, he yelled, "Look!" As Uncle Iroh ran over to him, Zuko turned and yelled, "Man overboard!"

The crewmembers began scurrying around to get the supplies necessary to pull the body onto the ship.


	2. Chapter 1

_One_

Maya slowly opened her eyes, looking around blearily as her vision slowly cleared. Everything in her body hurt, and she was exhausted and felt nauseous. There was a crowd of faces surrounding her, blotting out the sky. Slowly, she focused on one face. It was the face of an old man with a large stomach.

"I am glad you are awake, Miss. We were afraid that you were dead." He smiled at her.

Confused, Maya focused on the next face. It was a boy's face. A teenager, maybe around the same age as her. He had hardly any hair, and what he did have was put up into a ridiculous-looking ponytail. His skin was pale, and his face did not look friendly. That was when she noticed. His _face_. Covering the left side of it, wrapping around to part of his ear, was an old burn mark. It was obvious and ugly, and she wondered if he could still see out of his left eye. Looking at this boy's scar reminded her of her father, and the muscles in her jaw clenched in anger.

Realizing she was staring, she quickly looked away, and swallowed. It did no good to remember her father now. He was long gone, and he would never hurt her again. The old man brought her out of her thoughts by offering her his hand. She took it and he pulled her up. Immediately, she wished she had stayed on the ground, and managed to get to the railing of the ship before vomiting.

After a few moments, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and turned around. Most of the crew had awkward looks on their faces, like they were disgusted, but at the same time they felt bad, and were trying not to show the fact that they were disgusted. The boy, though… he made no effort to hide his disgust. He gave her a look and then stalked off down below, yelling to the crew as he went, "Back to work!"

All of the men left to go back to their jobs. All except for the old man who had helped her up. At this time, he walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't let my nephew upset you. He has a short temper. Just be glad you made it to the edge before you threw up, otherwise he might have thrown you back into the water."

Maya looked up into his face worriedly, and then when he threw his head back and laughed, she realized he had been joking. With a sigh of relief, she let him lead her below decks.

"Come with me, Miss. Let's get you something to eat." He paused. "Let's get _me _something to eat, while we're at it. I'm starving."

"Maya," she said quietly. It was the first thing she had said since being rescued.

"I'm guessing that is your name?"

She nodded.

"Well, Maya, my name is Iroh, but you can call me Uncle."

"Okay… Uncle." Maya smiled, and then looked around, feeling claustrophobic in the small confines of the hallway below decks. It was creepy down here. The metal hallway was lit with odd lights that gave off an eerie red glow. Subconsciously, she moved closer to Uncle.

"It's okay," he said. "Even _I_ found it a bit spooky down here for a while. Come with me. The kitchen is this way."

A little while later, Maya and Uncle Iroh were sitting on cushions at a small wooden table. Maya shoved noodles into her mouth with her chopsticks so fast that she choked a little and had to stop eating to cough. Uncle peered at her over his bowl. He had never seen anyone eat with more enthusiasm than him.

"What were you doing on a piece of driftwood in the ocean, anyways?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

Slowly, Maya put her bowl down on the table. She thought for a little while, and then said, "I had been hired by a man who was the captain of a merchant ship, to work as a crewmember. We were taking cargo to some distant Earth Kingdom city that was near the southern border, when we were attacked by pirates. They came aboard the ship, and while everyone else was fighting, I managed to escape on a lifeboat. I drifted for a few days, and then I was hit by a storm, and the next thing I remember is waking up on your ship."

Uncle sat and stroked his beard for a moment. "That is quite an adventure."

Maya picked up her bowl and continued slurping noodles. If he asked her any more questions about her past, she was afraid she would have to lie. She didn't want to talk about why she had offered herself as a crewmember in the first place. She didn't want to talk about the year she'd had, struggling to get by on her own, a sixteen-year-old girl with Water Tribe and Fire Nation blood in her veins, wandering around the Earth Kingdom as a refugee. She didn't want to remember the reason she had run away from home. But the scars on her arms, legs, and stomach would always be a constant reminder. She wondered about where the boy had gotten his scar.

Later that night, Maya lay on the cot that had been given to her. It was lumpy and thin, but that was okay. She was just glad she was alive. And the crew didn't seem so bad. Mostly they ignored her. That was just fine with her. At least she had Uncle. He seemed nice. Smiling, she rolled over and went to sleep.

**Author's Note: Hey, guys, meaning, 'Hey people who actually took the time to look at my story because you guys are awesome.' Anyways, due to the fact that this is my first story ever, I am not going to post anymore chapters until I get at least one review, because secretly I have no self-confidence. I would really appreciate some constructive criticism, although you probably won't notice the changes until way later in the story because I have a lot more chapters already written. I'm just waiting for a review to post anymore on here. So... R&R, please!**

**Much appreciated,**

**-Fira**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I know I said I would not post anymore chapters until someone reviewed my story, however, I already have a follower, and someone already likes my story enough to favorite it, so I will take back what I said before and give you another chapter. Whoever you are, thank you for following/favoriting me! I sincerely appreciate it!**

_Two_

The next morning, Maya awoke to the sound of feet walking on the metal floor of the ship. She guessed that meant she had to get up, too. She'd been a crewmember on a ship more than once, and she was used to getting up early, and receiving no special treatment just because she was a girl.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stood up, trying to get the wrinkles out her clothes. She'd been given something to change into the day before, since her old clothes had been wet and ruined. Her new attire was too big for her, but she appreciated it all the same. She'd learned a long time ago to take anything she could get, and to not ask for more than that. Anything was better than being beaten and burned by her own father on a daily basis.

Maya shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had to stop thinking about him. Quickly, she used the restroom to clean herself as much as she could with a bucket of cold water and a rag. Then she went out on deck, calling for Uncle Iroh as she went. She found him out near the railing, having a quiet discussion with his nephew, whose name, she realized, she did not know.

After a few moments, the boy shouted, "You're not helping, Uncle! Nothing you say ever helps!" Then he spun around and stalked away, which, from Maya's perspective, meant that he was stalking straight towards her. He nearly ran into her before he realized she was there.

"Out of my way!" he yelled, not stopping to wait.

Quickly, she stumbled to the side, and then turned to watch him stomp down the stairs. Huffing in anger, she went over to Uncle, who was standing looking out at sea, shoulders slumped in defeat.

When she was close enough to him, she said quietly, "Uncle? Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" He turned, his face immediately blossoming into a smile that Maya knew was fake. "Oh yes, I'm fine. Prince Zuko is just a little… sensitive sometimes."

Maya's mouth dropped open. "_Prince Zuko_? The Fire lord's _son_?"

Uncle flinched. "Yes."

"What is _he_ doing on a ship like this? The last thing I heard about him was that he had decided to go on a long vacation, and had never returned. A lot of people in the Fire Nation think he's dead."

Uncle's face took on a look of utter melancholy. "Of course my brother would make it seem as if his son was dead. Rather that than a failure."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mm," Uncle said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm not sure whether you ought to know just yet. It's complicated, and I'm afraid you might get the wrong impression of my nephew if I told you right now."

"Oh, he's given me his _own_ wrong impression already. He nearly ran me over on his way down below just now."

"Do not be so quick to judge him. He's had a difficult life, full of confusion and hardship. He has been hardened by past experiences, and is not readily trusting or friendly with anyone – not even me. He does not mean to be so cruel. I think if I just keep encouraging him to be the man I know he can be, he will come around and realize that the world does not hate him like he thinks it does."

They were both silent, and Maya took the opportunity to think about everything Uncle had just told her. _Zuko's life sounds a lot like mine._ She was beginning to feel bad for him, but then she thought, _But at least I'm still a nice person! Just because he had a difficult past doesn't mean he has the right to go around bullying his uncle and yelling at people_.

She shook her head. "So," she said, "what's for breakfast?"

Hours later in the day, Maya was wandering the corridors of the ship, feeling bored. She didn't pry into any rooms, just wandered aimlessly. At some point, she realized she had found her way into the engine room. Startled, she looked up, and saw a few crewmembers standing around talking. They sounded angry.

She didn't go over to them, but she didn't leave, either. Silently, she stood and listened. It wasn't as if they could accuse her of eavesdropping. They'd left the door open; otherwise she would not have even been in the room.

"I'm sick of this kid!" one of the men said. "I mean, I know he's a prince and everything, but he was _banished_! And yet he still acts like he has authority over everyone. And all he ever talks about is capturing the Avatar!"

Maya could not be silent anymore. "_What_?" she exclaimed, walking over to the three men standing at the back of the room. "All he ever talks about is _what_?"

The men eyed her with looks of annoyance. "We weren't talking to you, little girl," one of them said, sneering at her.

"I'm not a little girl. I'm sixteen. Now tell me again what you said. Something about Zuko wanting to capture the Avatar? So that means the Avatar is _alive_?"

"Of course not," said the man who had spoken originally. "But Prince Zuko is convinced that he is, for some harebrained reason. I don't even know _why_ he's so obsessed about it! It's like he eats, sleeps, and breathes this idea about capturing the Avatar."

Maya went into her thoughts. _What is going on? What happened to Zuko to make him so angry? And what the hell is this about capturing the Avatar? Why would anyone want to do that?_ And then she stopped, and thought back to her years in school before she had run away. _A hundred years ago, Sozin used the comet to destroy the Air Nomads, hoping to kill the Avatar so that he could advance in the war. Maybe Fire Lord Ozai wants to make sure that the Avatar is really dead. But why now? It's been a hundred years, and there hasn't been any sign of the Avatar for all this time. What makes Ozai so sure the Avatar even exists anymore. I mean, if he or she had died, they would have already been reincarnated as a waterbender, right?_

"Hey!" one of the men said, making Maya jump. "Are you just gonna stand there all day?"

"Sorry," she murmured, too lost in thought to care about his rudeness. Slowly, she walked away, still thinking things over. She wanted to ask Uncle about what the man had said, but she had a feeling he wouldn't answer any of her questions. That meant the only person left to ask about Zuko… was Zuko.

She sighed. _Great. Why do I get the feeling _he_ won't answer any of my questions either?_

But then again, if she _did _get him to talk, maybe she could get him to tell her why he was so mean and angry all the time. Maybe if he talked to her for a little bit, he might feel better. It was definitely a long shot, but she told herself to do it anyways, before she lost her nerve.

Quickly, she followed the hallway, until she came to the door of the room that she knew was Zuko's. She took a deep breath, and knocked.


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey, guys. I'm a total newbie when it comes to figuring out how to work this site. I've been on it loads of times, but only as a casual reader. As stated before, this is my first story ever posted on here. I would really appreciate a review or two. Anyways, here's chapter three!**

_Three_

"Come in," Zuko said, his voice muffled through the door. He didn't sound happy.

Taking another breath, Maya opened the door a crack and peered in. He was lying on the bed, arms folded behind his head. When he saw her, his expression became annoyed. "Oh. What do _you_ want?" He gave her a once-over. "And why are you hiding behind the door like that? I said come in, didn't I?"

Maya wondered if maybe she should just leave. She suddenly had the urge to smack Zuko across the face and see if that helped his attitude any, but she knew that that was a very bad idea. Setting her face into a permanent frown, she came in and closed the door, folding her arms across her chest for added effect. If he was going to so blatantly show how much he didn't like her, then she would do the same.

"Well, what do you _want_?" Zuko asked in an exasperated tone after a few long seconds of silence had dragged by.

"Is it true that you're trying to capture the Avatar?" Maya blurted out suddenly.

He looked at her for a second, and the expression on his face made her think that he was wondering if maybe she was stupid. "Of course I am. Don't you know that yet? You've been talking to Uncle a lot. Hasn't he told you anything?"

Maya looked around. "Actually, he kind of refused to say anything about you, except that there's a reason behind you being so angry and mean all the time, and that I shouldn't automatically hate you for being a jerk. Though, I can't say I agree with him. Right now, you're making me really want to not like you."

"You little –" Zuko said, getting off the bed and standing up. "How dare you talk to me like that, peasant!"

Maya scoffed and stood her ground, arms dropping to their sides and hands clenched into fists. "_Peasant_? That's the worst insult I've ever heard. Didn't anyone ever teach you swear words?"

"Do you _want_ me to call you a bitch?"

Maya sighed heavily, and stretched, arms out in front of her. She put them back at her sides. "Look, I didn't come in here to fight with you, okay? I just wanted to know if what the crewmembers were saying was true. Why do you want to capture the Avatar, anyways? Isn't he supposed to be a _good_ guy?"

But Zuko wasn't listening, apparently. "Hello?" Maya said, rolling her eyes when he didn't answer after too many seconds had gone by. "Did you even listen to anything I said?"

"Where did you get all those burn marks?" Zuko asked suddenly, staring at her arms.

Suddenly, Maya was very self-conscious. The question had completely blindsided her. "W-what?" she stuttered, subconsciously rubbing her arms and holding them close to her body.

"You have burn marks all over your arms. They look old. Where did you get them?" Something in Zuko's voice was desperate and demanding, like if she didn't tell him he would force the information out of her.

But she resisted. "That's none of your business," she stated flatly. "How would you like it if I stared at your face like that and then demanded to know how you got _your_ scar?"

"But you _were_ staring at me."

"What are you talking about? When?"

"Yesterday, when we rescued you. You were staring right at the scar on my face. At least you didn't ask about it. But I was about to tell you to stop when you did it on your own."

"Oh. Sorry." There was a lull in the conversation, and then Maya was hit with sudden inspiration. "If you tell me how you got your scar, I'll tell you how I got all of mine."

And then Maya knew she had lost him. He shut down, and his face became angry again. He turned away from her and yelled at her to get out.

"Zuko, you don't have to keep it hidden away!" she yelled right back. "Just tell me!"

He turned again to face her. "If you don't leave right now, you'll have another burn to add to your collection." His voice was serious, and deadly. She knew he wasn't lying. Suddenly, she was afraid of him, and at the same time, she still wanted to smack him.

"You're a horrible person," she said, and then she stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind her.


	5. Chapter 4

_Four_

Maya stood silently up on deck, trying to ignore the stinging behind her eyes that had nothing to do with the sea air. Why did he have to act that way? What had happened to him to make him so angry? She shook her head. She was already tired of trying to make Zuko a happier person. She couldn't _make_ him happy if he didn't want to be. And if he was just going to threaten her with _adding another burn to her collection_, then maybe she'd ask to be let off at the next stop.

Uncle startled her. "You tried talking to Zuko, didn't you?"

She jumped and turned. When she realized that it was just Uncle, she faced the ocean again, back turned to him. "Yes, I did," she said, trying not to put any emotion into her voice.

"Whatever he said to you, it was hurtful. I can tell." Uncle came and stood beside her. Without looking at her, he said, "Would you like to tell me about it?"

At first, Maya wanted to flat-out yell _No_ and then storm off down below and throw herself onto her cot. And then, with an inner cringe, she realized that that would make her just as bad as Zuko. Sighing loudly, she said, "I tried asking Zuko about his past, specifically, where he got his scar from. I told him that if he told me where he got _his_, then I would tell him where I got all of _mine_. And then he just… yelled at me to get out. I tried getting him to open up again. I told him he didn't have to hide it. And then he turned around and looked at me with this… really hard, creepy look on his face and he told me that if I didn't leave right then, he would _add another burn to my collection_."

Uncle flinched. "I am sorry. I cannot believe my nephew would say something so cruel, considering the way in which he got that burn mark to begin with."

"It wasn't an accident, was it?"

"No. But I still don't think it is my place to tell you anything about Zuko. If he wants you to know something, he will tell you himself."

She sighed again. "I knew you would say that. But I honestly don't think Zuko will ever tell me _anything_." She was silent for a while. And then she burst out laughing. When Uncle asked her why, she said in between laughs, "Zuko… called me a… peasant!"

Uncle looked taken aback. "A – a _peasant_?"

She nodded enthusiastically, still laughing.

He grinned. "Well, I guess that is a better insult than some."

Maya walked back to her cot, chuckling quietly to herself.


	6. Chapter 5

_Five_

It had been a few days since anything really noteworthy had happened. Maya was beginning to wonder if she was just going to stay on this ship forever. No one, not even Zuko, had mentioned letting her off anywhere, and she had given up the idea of leaving, anyways. Ever since their argument a few days ago, Zuko had avoided her at all costs, and when he was forced to be around her, he was civil – but cold. Maya wondered if maybe calling him a horrible person and then slamming the door in his face had offended him just as much as he had offended her.

At the moment, she was sitting beside Uncle Iroh as he taught her the basics of a card game that he called Elemental Solitary. It was a game, he had told her, that one could play by oneself. She was listening intently, purposefully ignoring Zuko, who was on deck with them, pacing back and forth.

Suddenly, a beam of bright light shot up into the sky. It was white, tinged with blue, and blinding. It disappeared into the clouds, lighting them up from the inside and giving the sky an ominous glow for a moment, before the light disappeared altogether, as if it had never been there in the first place.

Maya stared. Uncle looked up from his game as if he had missed it, though she knew he hadn't. Zuko had stopped pacing. "Look, Uncle! Do you know what this means?"

"I won't get to finish my game?" Uncle asked, voice full of regret.

Maya grinned.

"It _means_," Zuko continued, glaring at the both of them, "That my search for the Avatar has finally come to an end."

"I don't want you to get your hopes up, Prince Zuko," Uncle replied seriously.

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source!" Zuko shouted, pointing behind him. "It has to be him!"

Maya folded her arms across her chest. "How do you know it's a _boy_? Are you afraid of getting your butt kicked by a _girl_?"

Uncle put a hand on her arm to calm her down.

Zuko glared at her angrily for a moment, and then he said, "The next stop we make, you're leaving."

"Good. I didn't want to stay, anyways," Maya lied. In truth, even though Zuko was a pain in the ass, she was beginning to get used to being on this ship. And Uncle Iroh had been nothing but kind to her since her arrival. She felt comfortable here, and she was beginning to see Zuko as a kind of irritating older brother. Eventually, she knew, he'd come around. He'd have to. He couldn't stay angry forever. She just wished he would tell her what the hell was the matter with him.

Uncle suggested that they all go down to their rooms to relax and get some space from one another. Maya stood and went down below before Zuko decided to yell at anyone. She had a headache.


	7. Chapter 6

_Six_

Later that day, as the sun was setting, Maya grew bored of lying on her cot, and decided to go up on deck for some fresh air before it would be too cold to go out. They had been steadily heading farther into the South Pole, after Zuko had ordered the captain to head in the direction of the beam of light.

She passed Uncle Iroh on her way up. He looked irritated, but smiled and put a hand on her shoulder before continuing on to his room. She watched him for a moment, wondering what Zuko had done this time. And then she shook her head and continued going up the stairs. When she got to the top, she saw Zuko standing at the railing, staring ahead. She was about to change her mind about coming up, and then she thought, _There's no reason why we can't _both_ be on deck. Zuko needs to learn how to share._

She went and stood at the opposite corner of the ship, and glanced discreetly to her left, trying to gauge his reaction. He didn't even seem to notice that she was there. She turned to face him fully, seeing now that he looked very upset. She remembered all too well what had happened the last time she had tried to get Zuko to open up, but she was determined to figure out what his problem was, so she walked over to him.

Finally, he looked at her, and seemed genuinely surprised to see her standing there. At first Maya thought that maybe he would relax his guard a little, but then the hardened mask returned over his face, and he said in a flat tone, "What?"

She stood there and continued to stare at him for a moment, and then she sighed and turned to face the ocean. "You're impossible," she muttered.

"What did you say?" he asked, voice threatening.

"I said you're impossible!" she repeated loudly, making sure that she put as much annoyance into her voice as she could. She spun to face him again. "Now, are you going to threaten to burn me again? Or maybe you'd like to call me a peasant?"

"How about I call you a bitch again and we call it even?" Zuko said, eyebrow raised.

"Ugh!" Maya exclaimed. "This is what I get for trying to be nice to you! I swear, if I could firebend I would gladly accept an Agni Kai, just to teach you a lesson!"

Zuko flinched, quite visibly, and Maya knew she had, somehow, struck a nerve. He turned his back to her, and began to walk away. Maya tried to think of something to say, to get him to tell her why he had reacted the way he had, but she could think of nothing, and he had already disappeared downstairs. Sighing, she waited a good five minutes, so that he couldn't accuse her of following him, and then she went downstairs also, and flopped onto her cot to try and get some sleep.


	8. Chapter 7

_Seven_

The next morning, Maya awoke with an extremely pessimistic outlook on life. She got up from her cot and began what had become her morning routine, going into the bathroom to wash up, and then heading to the kitchen for a bit of breakfast. Uncle Iroh wasn't there, which was odd. Normally, he was stuffing food into his mouth as quickly as possible, not that she minded. Watching him eat made her laugh.

After breakfast, she headed up to the deck, figuring that was where he must have gone. She was right. He was sitting on a stool, watching Zuko, who was shooting fireballs at two of the crewmembers. Maya ran over to Uncle. "What is he doing?" she asked, figuring he'd gone into a temper tantrum or something and had attacked the two men out of anger. "And why aren't you doing anything about it."

"Hush, Maya. It is all right. Prince Zuko is practicing his firebending. These two gentlemen have agreed to be his training partners. Now sit and watch."

Maya breathed a sigh of relief, and sat on the floor of the deck. Zuko stood stock-still, watching his partners as they faced him. They had made a triangle, with Zuko in the middle, while the two crewmembers were on either side. Zuko had a fist facing each of them. They all stood still for a moment, and then he attacked, sending a fireball to the one on the left, which knocked the man to the ground. When the one on the right tried to catch him by surprise, he sent that one flying, as well.

Maya was secretly impressed, but Uncle huffed and stood up from the stool. "No, Prince Zuko!" he said. "Power in firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles. The breath controls the energy in the body, and is released as _fire_." At the word _fire_, Uncle released a spout of flame from his fist directly in front of Zuko's face, close enough to blow his hair back.

Maya flinched. She was surprised the Uncle would ever get that close to burning Zuko.

"Drill it again," he said.

Zuko made a loud noise of frustration. "I've been practicing this set all morning. I am more than ready for the next one."

"No, you are impatient," Uncle replied, folding his arms across his chest. "You have yet to master your basics." He sat back down, a sign of finality.

Zuko let out a yell and sent a fireball at one of the men he had been training with, sending him crashing to the ground. He turned back around and got into Uncle's face. "The fire sages tell us that the Avatar is able to control all four elements. He's had over a hundred years to master each one. I will need to know more than basic firebending to defeat him. You _will_ teach me the advanced set!"

Uncle stared at him in silence for a few moments. And then he said, "Very well. But not before I finish my roast duck!" And he picked up a bowl that had been sitting beside his stool, and began shoving pieces of duck into his mouth.

Maya laughed. There was the Uncle she knew. She watched for another hour or so, as Zuko continued practicing. As she watched, and listened to what Uncle was telling his nephew, she began to see what he had been talking about. Zuko wasn't really trying to _feel_ the fire he was bending. He was just shooting random fire out of his hands and feet and trying to make it look good.

Of course, what did she know? She couldn't bend at all. Watching any kind of bending always gave her a pang of jealousy, especially when it came to firebending. She often thought that if she had just been born a firebender, maybe her father would not have tortured her with it. But, secretly, she knew that wasn't true. Telling his daughter that he was burning her body with his firebending to try and trigger her own was a lie, meant to explain away the fact that he got a perverted pleasure from watching her scream in pain.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, eventually Maya stood and went below deck. She didn't want to think about it anymore.


	9. Chapter 8

_Eight_

Later, when her thoughts had stopped revolving around her father, Maya went back up on deck. Zuko was there, looking through a telescope. She went over to him. He stiffened when he noticed her. "Why do you keep coming up here and talking to me?" he asked.

She ignored his question. "I enjoyed watching you practice today," she said, smiling tentatively. "I was really impressed."

"Whatever," he said, continuing to look through the telescope.

"I'm serious," she said. He didn't say anything. She turned to look out at the water. After a time, she murmured, "I've always been jealous of benders."

"Why?"

His question surprised her. She hadn't expected him to say anything at all. "Because…" She thought. She didn't know if she was ready to tell him anything about her. He hadn't exactly been open about _himself_. She sighed. "Just because. It seems like an amazing thing, to be able to bend an element. I'd be happy even if I were an earthbender."

She could feel him looking at her. She turned and faced him, looking back, challenging him to open himself up. He took a breath. "My father –

He was cut off. There was light rising into the sky. He spun and looked through the telescope again. This light was different. It wasn't a beam. It looked like a flare, but it was hard to tell from this far away.

Maya watched as Zuko angled the telescope downwards. His head moved slowly from right to left, as if watching something move, and then jerked farther right. He stood and yelled suddenly, "Helmsman! Wake my uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar. As well as his hiding place."


	10. Chapter 9

_Nine_

As the ship drew ever closer to the small Water Tribe village, Zuko readied himself for war. Maya, on the other hand, spent a lot of time trying to talk Zuko out what he was doing.

"Why do you even _want_ to capture the Avatar?" she asked, as Zuko was dressed in armor by a few crewmembers. "What did he ever do to you? The Avatar is supposed to keep balance in the world. Do you want to be the one responsible for tipping the whole world _out_ of balance?"

"Shut up, Maya!" Zuko snapped, exasperated by her constant pestering. "You don't understand. I _have_ to do this!"

"But _why_?"

He was dressed properly, and began walking out of the room. When he was directly beside her, he turned his head and looked at her. "For my honor," he said quietly.

She turned to watch him leave, and then sighed and followed him out into the corridor.

Maya had given up trying to change Zuko's mind. She decided that when they came to the village she would come out with him to make sure he didn't get himself into too much trouble. She didn't know why she even cared so much. She thought it was probably because earlier he had almost told her the truth about himself. And that meant that he was starting to trust her. The least she could do was give him the benefit of the doubt. If he wanted to capture the Avatar so badly, she wasn't going to stop him. But she wasn't going to help him either.

She was up on deck when she felt a jolt run through the ship. She grabbed the railing to keep from falling over, and then ran to the other side to see what was wrong. The ship had crashed into a giant slab of ice, and was slowly slicing its way through it. In the center of the ice was the village that Zuko had seen the Avatar running to. They were there. She went below decks to join Zuko as he walked purposefully down the ramp and onto the ice.

It was cold. Maya pulled her clothes tighter around herself. She looked around. The village was small. There were a lot of old people and a lot of young children. They all wore blue and white clothing, symbolizing that they were Water Tribe. They all looked scared. Maya didn't like this at all. It felt wrong to come and upheave a village like this. No one had done anything wrong.

As Zuko, Maya, and the guards all made their way down the ramp, a young teenage boy in odd face paint came rushing at Zuko, who was in the front. The boy seemed to be screaming a war cry as he raised his weapon. Before he even had a chance to strike, Zuko kicked him off to the side and the boy went plunging into the snow face-first. Maya flinched.

Zuko finally stepped into the village. He stood there for a moment, looking around. "Where is he?" he asked. No one responded. They all stared with blank expressions. "Where are you hiding him?" Zuko repeated. When everyone continued staring, he reached out a hand and snatched an elderly woman from the group. There was the sound of collective gasps, and the girl who had been standing beside her reached out, as if to grab the woman back.

"He'd be about this age!" Zuko shouted. "Master of all elements! I know you're hiding him somewhere!" He roughly shoved the old woman back into the crowd, and then released a whip of fire that he sent over the heads of the villagers, causing them all to scream.

Maya realized then that the only male in the entire village, besides the little children, was the boy who had attacked Zuko when he had first arrived. And this boy was now up again. He ran in from the side and yelled another battle cry, giving away his position. Zuko ducked and the boy went flying over him, landing hard on his backside. He turned to face Zuko. As a last resort, he took a boomerang from his belt and flung it at Zuko, who quickly moved his head to the side to avoid being smacked in the face with it. It went whizzing past him so far that after a moment Maya could no longer see it.

One of the younger children was holding a spear that was far too big for him. He said, "Show no fear!" and threw the teenager the spear. The boy in face paint got up and charged at Zuko.

Zuko didn't even flinch. He waited until the spear was close enough and then used his arms to break through the thin wooden stick. Then he yanked the end of it out of the boy's hands and smacked it into his head once, twice, three times, causing him to fall. Zuko snapped the rest of the spear in half and threw the pieces down.

Then suddenly the boomerang came whizzing back down and whacked Zuko in the side of the head. Maya was glad he was wearing a helmet, otherwise the metal boomerang could very well have killed him. She could tell he was pissed off. He growled, and his fists were spurting flames.

A moment later, something completely unexpected happened, so fast that Maya nearly missed it. A young boy, who was bald, and had a blue tattoo of an arrow on his head, came sliding down a nearby slope on what looked to be a _penguin_. Maya stared open-mouthed as the arrow boy slid right into Zuko and flipped him off of his feet and into the air. He landed with a sickening _crunch_ on the ground, directly on his face. Maya flinched.

When Zuko finally stood up again, he spun and glared angrily at Arrow Boy. "Looking for me?" the boy asked. He was holding a staff of some kind in his hand. It was odd-looking, for a staff. Too thin, Maya noticed, to be of any real use.

"_You're _the airbender?" Zuko asked, voice full of incredulity. "_You're_ the Avatar?"

The girl from earlier, who had been holding onto the old woman that Zuko had grabbed, stared at Arrow Boy. "Aang?" she said.

"No way," muttered the teenage boy who had fought with Zuko.

Maya looked at the boy called Aang. He couldn't have been more than thirteen. Maybe even less than that. But how was that possible? He should've been an old man by now, nearly ready to fall off the wagon. Zuko seemed to be having the same thoughts.

He readied himself for the fight, and the guards began slowly surrounding Aang. "I've spent years readying for this moment," he said, voice quiet and threatening. "Practicing, meditating. You're just a child!"

Aang gave him a funny look. "Well, you're just a teenager," he said.

And then they fought. Zuko sent his usual blasts of fire at the boy, and Aang used his staff to help keep the flames at bay. He spun it in his hands. Maya guessed it was really a tool used to help his airbending, based on the way he was using it. As Zuko and Aang circled each other, and Zuko kept shooting fireballs at him, the villagers screamed. The fire was getting dangerously close to them.

Aang suddenly stopped moving and looked at Zuko. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"

Zuko put his hands at his sides and nodded once. The guards surrounded the boy and began propelling him towards the ship. Maya followed behind them. Zuko said, "Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home."

As they all headed up the ramp, the girl who had said the Avatar's name ran forward. "Aang, no!" she cried. "Don't do this!"

"It's okay, Katara. I'll be fine," Aang replied, though it was obvious that he thought nothing of the sort. "Watch Appa for me until I get back." He turned and smiled at her from inside the ship, but his smile disappeared once the ramp was raised high enough for her not to be able to see his face.

Maya looked at him sadly, wishing she could figure out whose side she was on. She wanted to free Aang, but at the same time, she wanted Zuko to be happy. She headed down below with her head in her hands.


	11. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! Before I post the actual chapter up today, I'd like to take the time to thank these people for favoriting/following me: Cybertron5000, Joneskey, MardiGras95, Mockingbird's Purity, Theshowofme, Topazione, WarriorDragonElf54, yori neko, and jamie0360. I could never have hoped to have so many people like my story so much after only three days. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for your support.**

_Ten_

Not long after Aang had been captured, Maya began hearing strange noises. Sounds of a struggle. She figured it was him trying to escape. She went into the hallway and listened. The ship was made almost entirely out of metal, so everything echoed. It was hard to pinpoint exactly where the kid was, but she knew it was him. His footsteps were lighter than the guards', and unnaturally quick. Suddenly, she saw him up ahead, coming flying down the hallway at lightning speed. When he saw her, he skidded to a stop and looked at her cautiously.

She smiled. "If you're going to try and escape, I'm not going to stop you."

Aang sighed with relief. "Have you seen my staff?" he asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Maya said.

"Oh well," Aang replied. "Thanks anyways!" he called, as he whizzed past her.

She knew that if Zuko found out she had let Aang go, he would be furious. She didn't care. She went back into her room, closed the door, and fell asleep on her cot. She was not asleep for long until she started hearing strange noises again. She heard a heavy thud somewhere above her, on the deck, and a strange growling sound. Like that of some sort of animal. Confused, she began walking down the hallway to the stairs to see what was going on.

By the time she got up on deck, all she saw was a giant flying furry creature in the sky, and Aang and his friends riding on it. She stared.

"Shoot them down!" she heard Zuko yell, and watched as he and Uncle shot a massive fireball at the fuzzy animal.

Aang suddenly stood up and swung his staff through the air with all his might, but he didn't do it anywhere near the fireball, so Maya wasn't sure what he expected to happen. Then she felt the gust of strong wind, and saw the fireball crash into the wall of ice beside the ship, and realized that he had just airbended.

She fell to the floor of the deck as an avalanche crashed into the ship, caused by the fireball, which had dislodged a part of the wall it had slammed into. She heard the distant laughter as Aang and his friends flew away on their giant fluff-monster. _This has been the weirdest day ever_, she thought to herself, as she picked herself up off the floor and made her way over to Zuko and Uncle.

Uncle made a comment about how _the greatest threat to the Fire Nation was just a little kid_. Zuko said, "That _kid_, Uncle, just did _this_." He spread his arm out in the direction of the part of the ship that was buried beneath ice. "I won't underestimate him again," he muttered. Turning to the crew, he yelled, "Dig this ship out and follow them!" He paused. "A-as soon as your done with that," he said.

She turned to look at the crew, wondering what he meant, and gasped. Three of them were completely encased in ice, and frozen in place! She ran over to them. There were three _un_frozen crewmembers holding lanterns up to the ones who were frozen, trying to thaw out the ice. "Are they going to be okay?" she asked.

"I think so," one of them said. "They can still blink, which means they must have some amount of room in between their bodies and the ice. As long as we thaw them out soon, they'll be okay. The only problem I'm worried about is loss of air. That's why we're focusing on their heads first."

Maya stayed with them and helped try and thaw out the three men. Soon, they all could at least breathe and talk again. After that, she left to go find Zuko, who had disappeared below decks.

She went to his door and knocked on it. He yelled at her to "Go away, whoever you are!"

Sighing, she said, "Zuko, it's me. Let me in."

"No. I don't want to talk to you right now!"

"It's okay, Zuko," she coaxed, leaning against the door. "I know you feel like you failed. But you'll figure it out. I'll help you."

Silence, for a moment. And then she heard, just barely, "Maya, please go away."

The _please_ was good enough for her. She left him and went back to her room.


	12. Chapter 11

_Eleven_

A day later, they finally sailed into port at a little seaside town to make repairs on the ship. Aang had done quite a number on it, and Maya was a little surprised that they had even made it to the town without breaking down. As Zuko, Uncle, and she all walked down the ramp onto the dock, Zuko made sure to let Uncle know that they were only stopping to make repairs, and nothing else.

Uncle mentioned the Avatar. Zuko spun around and hissed in Uncle's face, "Don't mention his name on these docks! If word gets out that he's alive, every firebender here will be out looking for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way!"

"Getting in the way of _what_?" said a deep male voice.

Maya gasped and turned to see who it was. Standing there, grinning oddly, was a very muscular middle-aged man with sideburns. The look on his face was creeping her out. She took a step back, closer to Uncle.

Zuko closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. "Captain Zhiao," he said, turning towards him. The tone of his voice suggested that this man was _not_ a welcome visitor.

"Actually, it's Commander now," he replied, walking up to the group.

"Commander," Uncle repeated. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, General Iroh," Zhiao said.

"_Retired_ General," Uncle reminded him.

_That's right_, Maya thought, surprised that she hadn't realized it by now. _Uncle is a famous General, most known for his six hundred day siege on Ba Sing Se._

"And who's this?" Zhiao asked, grinning at Maya with that same creepy expression.

Maya felt Uncle grab her wrist, pulling her slightly behind him. "A new crewmember," he said quickly. "No one of consequence."

He looked her over, and Maya felt naked under his stare. She moved even closer to Uncle, taking shelter behind his back. "Hmm," he said, and, seemingly satisfied, he turned back to Zuko. "So," he began, "What brings you here of all places?"

"We're not stopping for long," Zuko replied. "We just need to make repairs on our ship."

Zhiao looked over Zuko's head at the ship. The front part of it had massive damage. There was a large gaping hole blasted into the prow.

Maya turned to inspect the prow more closely, even though she'd already seen the damage. _The ice avalanche could not have possibly caused that sort of damage. What did Aang _do _before I came up on deck?_ she thought to herself.

"Wow," Zhiao said. "What in the world caused that much damage?"

"Well…" Zuko began hesitantly. "It's quite a story, actually… Uncle! Tell Commander Zhiao what happened!"

Uncle looked surprised. "Yes," he said. "Well, you see…" He stopped, and then leaned close to Zuko and said, none too quietly, "What, did we crash or something?"

"Yes!" Zuko replied, too loudly. "Right into… an Earth Kingdom ship!"

Maya put her face into her hands. _If I had known they were such terrible liars, I would have come up with something myself,_ she thought miserably. _They completely just gave us away!_

"_Really_?" Commander Zhiao said. "Well, you'll have regale me with all the _thrilling _details!" He leaned in close to Zuko. "Join me for a drink?"

Zuko looked into Zhiao's eyes for a moment. And then he turned and began to walk away, saying, "Sorry, but we have to go."

At first, Maya thought they'd be off the hook, and she started following Zuko. But Uncle, of course, had other plans. He took hold of their shoulders and pulled them back. "Prince Zuko, Maya, show Commander Zhiao your respect!"

Sighing inwardly, Maya turned around.

Uncle said, "We'd love to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite."


	13. Chapter 12

_Twelve_

The four of them – Maya, Prince Zuko, Uncle Iroh, and Commander Zhiao sat at a table inside the Fire Navy base of the town. Zhiao was talking about the Fire Lord, and his plans to completely take over the Earth Kingdom. "Once the Earth Kingdom is under the Fire Lord's rule, we will have nearly won the war."

Zuko scoffed. "My father is a fool if he thinks that the Earth Kingdom will fall without a fight."

Zhiao smirked at him. "I see two years at sea has done nothing to temper your tongue."

There was an awkward lull in the conversation. Maya watched Zhiao closely, but did her best to do so discreetly. There was something about him that she did not trust. He seemed to never stop grinning, and it was setting her teeth on edge looking at him like that.

"So, Prince Zuko, how goes your search for the Avatar?"

Before Zuko could respond, a loud _crash_ echoed throughout the room. Maya snapped her head in the direction of the sound, and saw Uncle standing over a pile of knocked over ornamental weapons, which had previously been leaning neatly against the wall. Uncle was blushing. "Sorry. My fault, entirely," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Maya stifled a giggle. She wasn't sure if Uncle had done that on purpose, in the hopes of distracting Zhiao, or if he had just legitimately done it on accident, but either way, she thought it was funny.

If it _had_ been Uncle's intent had been to distract Commander Zhiao, he had failed. Zhiao was not to be distracted. He looked over at Uncle dismissively, and then his gaze returned to Zuko. "Well?" he said.

Zuko sighed and looked down. "I haven't found any sign of him."

Zhiao smirked. "Did you really expect to? The Avatar died a long time ago, along with all the other Air Nomads."

Maya was watching Zuko intently, praying to the spirits that he had a good pai sho face. Unfortunately, at the last second, she saw his emotionless eyes widen for a moment, and he turned ever so slightly away from Zhiao. Then his eyes returned to normal and he looked at the Commander with an utterly Zuko-like face. A mix between constant annoyance and complete disinterest. But she had seen the slight change in Zuko's body language. And, if she knew anything at all about Commander Zhiao, then she knew that he had seen it too. She put her hands under the table and clutched at her knees nervously.

"Unless, of course, you've found some evidence that the Avatar is somehow alive," Zhiao said, his voice a question.

"No," Zuko replied, voice dripping with despair. "Nothing." He sighed. "It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago." He looked up at Zhiao with eyes that were sad. But Maya could see the contempt beneath them. The taunting look that said, "You'll never make me tell you in a million years."

Maya looked down at the table, studying the grain of the wood. She knew it was only a matter of time. They were going to lose, one way or another. Zhiao was going to find out what really happened.

Zhiao stood and began pacing the room slowly, hands behind his back. "Prince Zuko," he began slowly, "the Avatar is the only one who stands in the way of the Fire Nation and victory of this war. If you have even an _ounce_ of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found." He leaned down and got up really close to Zuko's face, staring at him.

"I haven't _found_ anything!" Zuko said angrily. It was obvious that he was getting tired of having to lie. He stood up. "Come on," he said, looking at Uncle and Maya. "We're leaving." He turned to walk out the door, but the two guards who stood on either side barred his way, making an X in the doorway with their swords.

A Fire Nation soldier in full outfit came in through the door in the back of the room. He spoke to Commander Zhiao. "Commander," he said. "We interrogated the crew like you asked. They told us that Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let him escape."

Commander Zhiao grinned even wider. He looked at Zuko, whose back was still turned. "Now. Tell me again how your ship was damaged."


	14. Chapter 13

_Thirteen_

About an hour later, Maya and the others were still sitting in the navy base, talking to Commander Zhiao. Zuko and Uncle had each taken turns telling parts of the story, but Maya had remained silent, as, for the most part, she didn't know much of what had happened once Aang had gotten on the ship. She noticed that neither of them had mentioned picking her up. She didn't know how to feel about that. Were they trying to protect her? And if so, from what? Or maybe they just didn't think that she was important enough to mention, but she knew that, if anything, at least _Uncle_ took an interest in her. No… There had to be some ulterior motive behind keeping Maya out of the story.

Zhiao laughed once the tale was through. "I see. So, Zuko, you were bested by a twelve-year-old boy. How nice."

Zuko grumbled under his breath, and then he said, "Only because I underestimated him! It won't happen next time."

"Oh," Zhiao replied, turning to look at him. "I'm afraid there won't be a next time. You see, you are no longer going to be searching for the Avatar. Now that is _my_ job. You will stay here, where you will be out of the way."

"You can't do this!" Zuko shouted. "It is my destiny to bring the Avatar to my father, and to restore my honor! My father tasked me with this two years ago. You can't get in my way _now_!"

Zhiao laughed again. "Your father," he said. "Your father doesn't even _want_ you. If he did, he would have taken back your banishment and let you come home by now. No. He knew that by sending you out to capture the Avatar, he was sending you on a wild goose chase. But now that I know the Avatar is alive, _I_ will bring him in and gain glory and fame. And you will remain nothing but a spoiled, banished prince."

"That's not true! My father _does_ want me home!"

"No, he doesn't. He thinks you're a failure. You have the scar to prove it."

Maya's eyes widened. From what Zhiao had just said, it sounded as if Zuko's father had been the one to give him his scar. If that was true, and if she putting the pieces of the conversation together properly, then Zuko's behavior was beginning to make a lot more sense.

Zuko gave a wordless shout, and then got up in Zhiao's face. "Maybe you'd like one to match?"

Commander Zhiao simply continued grinning. "Is that a challenge?"

"An Agni Kai. At sunset."

"I accept." Zhiao stepped back and looked at one of the guards. "Keep them here until then. I don't want Zuko losing his nerve and running away." With that, he walked out of the room.

Uncle Iroh reached out to Zuko from across the room, and then his arms fell to his sides. "Prince Zuko," he said, his voice incredulous. "Have you forgotten what happened the last time you dueled a master?"

Zuko was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I will never forget."


	15. Chapter 14

_Fourteen_

"Zuko," Maya said, as he put a metal ring around his upper arm. It was part of the outfit worn by the two people competing in the Agni Kai. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do you doubt my skill?" he asked her. "The other day you were telling me that you _enjoyed_ watching me firebend."

"I – no, that's not what I meant. I have no doubt that you can beat him. But… If you do beat him, then he'll be your enemy for the rest of your life."

Zuko waved her off. "I don't think you understand how Agni Kais work. It's a fight to the death. If I beat Zhiao, then he'll be dead and I won't have to worry about him anymore."

"To the _death_?" she asked. He gave a single nod. She suddenly wished they'd been nicer to each other. Because they might never have a chance to be nice to each other again. As annoying as Zuko had been, she didn't want to have to witness him die. She shuddered and looked at the ground. "Maybe I won't watch."

"Don't worry," he said. "I _will_ win."

She looked up again. "Please do."

Maya and Uncle Iroh stood off to the side as the Agni Kai raged on. She was so focused on it that she hardly heard Uncle, who was right next to her, shouting encouragements to Zuko. She watched in fascinated horror – and admiration – as Commander Zhiao and Prince Zuko duked it out.

At first, Zuko had just done his regular routine – angrily and aimlessly flinging fireballs towards his opponent, all of which Zhiao had easily evaded. Next, Zuko tried a fire whip, sending down a line of flames directly at him. Zhiao parted the flames with his hands and they passed by harmlessly to either side.

Zhiao sent his own fireball at Zuko, which caused him to jump back. Zhiao smiled and did it again. Zuko stumbled, trying to get away from the flames. Zhiao did it once more, and finally, Zuko tripped over his own feet and fell onto the ground. With a shout, Zhiao jumped across the arena and landed right next to Zuko, with every intent of blasting his face full of fire.

At the last second, Zuko got onto his hands and spun in a low circle, staying close to the ground and using his foot to knock Zhiao to the ground. Zhiao rolled away and got back up. As if from far away, Maya heard Uncle shouting something to Zuko. "Basics, Prince Zuko! Break his root!"

Maya wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but it seemed to help Zuko. Suddenly he was sending attack after attack at Zhiao without mercy. He was doing exactly what Zhiao had done to him. He sent spurts of flame from his feet, making the older man scuttle back to avoid being burned. And after two or three more attacks, Zhiao stumbled and fell onto his back, whacking his head into the ground. By the time he looked up, Zuko was standing over the top of him, fists ready.

"What are you waiting for?" Zhiao taunted. "Do it!"

Maya turned away, flinching when she heard the grunt of exertion from Zuko, and the sound of flames bursting from his fist. But there was no scream. Slowly, she looked up. The ground beside Zhiao's head was smoking, but the man himself was unharmed. Zuko had purposefully missed. Maya smiled, just a little, hoping that maybe he had thought about their earlier conversation, and had decided that killing Zhiao was maybe not the best choice.

"That's _it_?" Commander Zhiao shouted, staring at Zuko angrily. "Your father raised a coward."

Prince Zuko put his arms at his sides. The duel was over. "Next time you get in my way, I _promise_ I won't hold back," he said. And then he turned away from Zhiao, Uncle and Maya going over to greet him.

Suddenly Maya heard an angry shout come from Zhiao, and before she knew what was going on, Uncle had grabbed the man by his foot and pushed him to the ground with it. Zhiao had just tried to send a fireball at Zuko when his back was turned. Zuko ran forward, teeth grit in anger, but Uncle caught him.

"No, Prince Zuko! Do not taint your victory." After Zuko relaxed, Uncle let go of him and turned to look at Zhiao. "So this is how the great Commander Zhiao acts in defeat? Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more _honorable_ than you." He paused, and then added as an afterthought, "Thanks for the tea. It was delicious."

The three of them left Zhiao on the ground and headed back into town. When they were out of earshot, Zuko said quietly, "Did you really mean that, Uncle?"

"Of course," the old man said. "I told you ginseng tea was my favorite."

Maya smiled. She knew what Zuko had been asking about, and she knew Uncle did, too. Zuko looked startled at first, since that wasn't the answer he had been expecting. And then he realized that Uncle had still answered his question, and he smiled.

That was the first time Maya had ever seen him smile. It made _her_ smile, just looking at him. He was finally happy for once. She hoped it would last.


	16. Chapter 15

_Fifteen_

That night, Maya found Zuko standing on the deck of his ship, which was odd, considering that they had all paid for rooms at the nearest inn while the ship was being repaired. But the repairs would not be started on until morning, so the ship was deserted. All except for Zuko, standing alone looking out at sea, which he did so often. Soon, Maya joined him, standing beside him quietly, waiting for him to speak first.

When he remained silent, she said quietly, "I was impressed with you today."

"I know. You like to watch me firebend."

"No, I'm not talking about that, although your firebending was _also_ very good. I mean I'm impressed that you restrained yourself and chose to let Commander Zhiao live."

"I only did it so you wouldn't cry and whine to me about it later," Zuko replied, his voice overly defensive.

Maya smiled. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever the reasons you chose, I'm proud of you."

He sighed. "You sound like Uncle."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment."

Zuko snorted and turned back to the sea. They stood in silence for a long while, and then he caught her by surprise. "I'm sorry I threatened to burn you the other day."

Although Maya would have been perfectly willing to just let it go at that, she wanted to see just how genuine he was. "_And_?" she said.

He sighed again. "I guess I'm sorry for being such a jerk. And for calling you a peasant."

Maya started laughing loudly at that.

Zuko looked at her angrily. "I'm finally being nice to you and all you do is _laugh_ at me?"

"No, Zuko," she said quickly, trying to swallow her laughter. "I really appreciate your apology. And I accept it, by the way. Just… I don't know, something about being called a peasant just makes me laugh." She burst into laughter again, despite trying her hardest not to.

"I could call you a bitch again, and we'd call it even," Zuko said, folding his arms across his chest and raising his only eyebrow at her.

Maya's laughter immediately died. The old Zuko was back already. And then he gave her the tiniest of smiles, and she realized that he was being sarcastic. She gave a tentative smile back, and then the moment ended.

"Come on," he said. "We should get to the inn. It's cold out here."


	17. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:** **I would like to thank the following people for reviewing/following/favoriting my story. (Those people who I have already mentioned will not be mentioned again, but that does not mean that I appreciate you any less). Thank you to: RashestRumble16, Shinigami-Chan17, AnimeBear, Evetjes, IKhandoZatMan, Jhessika, and buddy6o. I truly appreciate you all, and I thank you for the time you took out of your days to help make my story better, or just to tell me that you enjoy it. For all of you reading my story, here are another two chapters! Enjoy! – Fira**

_Sixteen_

It had been about a week and a half since Zuko's Agni Kai with Commander Zhao, and they were back to the ocean. Zuko had been extremely… Zuko-ish when the men that they hired to fix the ship had told him it would take around two weeks to get it done. He'd gone into a rage and threatened not to pay them unless they got it done sooner. They had complied, and it had only taken a week, but Maya was now feeling as if it were not safe aboard the ship anymore. She didn't know how well the men had done, considering they'd cut the repair time in half.

At the moment, she was in her room, which had been changed recently, due to the comment she'd made about the bed at the inn being more comfortable than her cot. Uncle Iroh had exclaimed, "_What_? Why are you sleeping on a cot? We have plenty of other rooms available. The cots are only for the crewmembers."

"Aren't I a crewmember?" she'd responded.

Uncle had laughed. "No, no, child. I only said that so Commander Zhao wouldn't ask too many questions. You are our guest."

Maya hadn't known how to respond to that. What did _guest_ mean in this situation? She could have chosen to stay behind at the sea town, but, partly because she didn't want to risk running into Commander Zhao, and partly because she was getting used to Uncle's bad jokes and Zuko's slightly better attitude, she decided to go with them once the repairs were made.

So now, she was lying in a much more comfortable bed, about to go to sleep for the night. And then her relaxation was cut off. Because all the nice rooms were in the same area of the ship, she happened to be a lot closer to Zuko's room. And suddenly, she heard, "_What_? What do you _mean_ we have no idea where the Avatar is?"

Uncle, whose voice was much quieter, said something she could not hear correctly, and then Zuko yelled, "Give me the map!" There was some more bickering between them, and then she heard the distinctive stomping down the corridor that she had learned was Zuko's trademark.

Sighing, she discarded all thoughts of getting a good sleep, and got up to follow Zuko on deck. This seemed to be becoming a ritual between them. Zuko would storm off in a huff, and Maya would sigh and shake her head, and then follow him up on deck to calm him down. Uncle told her he seemed to listen to her more than he listened to him. She wasn't sure what to think of that. Should she be flattered, or slightly nervous? As it turned out, she was both.

She found him standing in his usual place at the newly repaired prow of the ship, staring at the ocean, which looked foreboding this late at night. "Zuko," she said, once she was standing beside him. "You're so impatient. If it really is your destiny to find the Avatar, then you will." She had begun to purposefully use the word _find _and not _capture_ anytime she was talking about Aang. She thought that maybe if she gave subtle hints, Zuko might catch on without even realizing it.

"Don't talk to me about my destiny," he muttered. "You know nothing about it."

She sighed. "I'm going to bed. Try not to stomp around like an idiot too loudly when you decide you're tired of being angry and come downstairs. I'm beginning to miss my cot. At least it was quieter when I was with the other crewmembers."

"But they probably all snore," Zuko said.

"I'd rather listen to the sound of twenty men snoring than listen to you constantly fight with Uncle about everything. He's only trying to help, you know."

Zuko turned to face her. "I'm getting tired of our little conversations every time I say anything at all to Uncle that isn't _yes_ or _no_. Why do you defend him? You don't even know him."

"I'm beginning to think that maybe I know him better than you do. You're too busy yelling to actually pay attention to him."

"How dare you say that me, you little bitch? He's _my_ uncle!"

"Right. The one who's been taking care of you for two years _despite_ the fact that you're an absolute asshole."

Suddenly Zuko's fists were spurting flames.

Maya was actually very afraid, but all she did was scoff and say, "Go ahead. Burn me. But I'll be taking that apology back if you do."

Zuko gave a wordless shout and shot a fireball into the air nowhere near her, but she still flinched. And then he was stalking away, back downstairs. Even from where she stood on the deck, she could hear the _slam_ of his door a minute later.

She sighed. _So much for becoming Zuko's friend._

**Author's Note: P.S. – If I did not mention your name in the above Author's note, I apologize. It either means that I haven't seen your name yet, or that I just missed it when putting it in. It is very confusing for me to go back and forth trying to figure out whose name I did and did not put in the previous thank you note. Please don't hate me. – Fira**


	18. Chapter 17

_Seventeen_

A few days later, while Maya, Uncle, and Zuko were eating an appetizer at dinner, the cook came in with the entre, which was a giant steaming fish, head still intact. Maya made a face.

"Prince Zuko," said the cook, "did you hear? The Avatar is on Kyoshi Island!"

Zuko stood up. "What?" He started walking out the door. "Uncle, prepare the rhinos. He's not getting away from me this time!"

"Are you going to eat that?" Uncle asked, pointing down at the still-steaming fish.

"I was going to save it for later!" Zuko replied angrily, snatching the plate off the table and stalking away with it.

Uncle looked disappointed, but Maya was completely okay with it. She continued eating her rice.

The next morning, she woke abruptly, to the sound of a door slamming against the wall, and then slamming closed. She knew immediately that it was Zuko. She got out of bed and opened the door to her room, looking down the corridor. He was coming towards her. "Good morning, Maya," he said, smiling. But Maya knew he was faking it. "Hope I didn't wake you." He grinned even wider and began stomping loudly down the hallway and towards the deck.

"Ugh!" Maya exclaimed. He'd been like this ever since she'd told him off the other night. She wished she could sleep as heavily as Uncle. After dressing and getting ready for the day, she went into the kitchen and had a quick breakfast.

Uncle was there. "Having boy trouble?" he asked, grinning at her.

"Specifically _Zuko_ trouble," she muttered.

"You know, he's only acting that way because he considers you a friend."

"What? Uncle, normally I believe everything you say, but this time I think you need your brain checked."

He chuckled. "Believe me. If he really didn't like you, he would not bother with you at all. He only teases you because secretly, he likes you. You are a good friend to him, even if he doesn't know it yet."

"But we barely know each other."

"That, I think, is not as true you might believe. Even though you do not know much of each other's pasts, you have shared a lot these last few weeks. Shared experiences bring people closer together."

"But he's so… _impossible_!" Maya said, exasperation clear in her voice. "Sometimes he talks to me, and sometimes he ignores everything I say. Sometimes he's kind of nice and sometimes he's a big jerk!"

"Like I have told you before, my nephew has had a hard life. But I think if you keep trying to be his friend, eventually, he will accept you. You have much determination, and I think Zuko secretly admires that about you, even if the only thing you are determined _about_ is getting him to talk to you, which probably annoys him."

"You're saying he likes me for the same reason that he _doesn't_ like me?"

"Exactly."

"I can't believe I'm using a Zuko phrase on you, but, Uncle, you're crazy."

Uncle threw his head back and laughed. "There, you see. My point is made. If you two didn't like each other, you would not have borrowed one of his phrases."

Maya shook her head. After she finished eating, she said, "So, we're headed to Kyoshi Island, right?"

"Yes, and we are almost there."

"And what was that last night about _rhinos_?"

"Let me show you."

She followed Uncle downstairs, and through a few corridors, to a big room that lead to the part of the ship that lowered into a ramp when docked. Inside this room were three rhinos. Literal _rhinos_. They each had their own pen, and they snorted and pawed at the ground anxiously. Maya stared.

"What the hell?" she said. "How long have you guys had _these_? And why haven't I noticed?"

"Well," Uncle began, and then stopped. "Actually, that's a good question. I know we didn't have them when we first started this trip two years ago. I'm not exactly sure when they were brought aboard."

Maya laughed.

Soon, they were docked at Kyoshi Island. Maya had been watching from up on deck. The island didn't look very big. But she hadn't really been focused on the island itself. A few minutes ago, she had seen the most amazing thing. Someone had gone out into the water for a swim, and had started riding a giant koi fish! From where the ship had been when she was watching, she was too far away to tell what the person looked like.

But that wasn't even the craziest part. Soon afterwards, she could make out a fin coming up out of the water. It was a humungous fin, as long as the ship she was on, and three times as tall. She swallowed. It was headed straight towards the koi fish and its rider. She then witnessed something very frightening. The sea monster's head came up out of the water, and grabbed the koi fish. It was all very hard to see. There was a lot going on.

What she knew was this: the rider had fallen back into the water, and somehow been picked up by the sea monster. He or she was holding on tightly to one of its antennae while the monster shook its head back and forth to try and dislodge them. Then the person fell into the water and seemed to have either passed out or died. They lay there in the water face up, unmoving.

Then Maya noticed another person, who was now wading through the water towards the original. The new person picked up their friend and started pulling him or her back to shore. It looked like they would make it, but then the sea monster noticed them and began swimming in their direction. Then the second person did something with their arm, and suddenly they were zooming backwards toward the beach, gliding on top of the water. The second person, Maya realized, was a waterbender. What was a waterbender doing way out here on Kyoshi Island? Of course, Maya was one to talk.

While all of this action had been going on, the ship had drawn ever nearer to the shore, and suddenly, they were there. Maya headed below quickly, to join Zuko in his search for the Avatar. If it came to a fight, which she knew it would, she would not help either side. She would simply stay off to the side and watch. Unless of course, Zuko – or the Avatar – was about to die. Then she'd have to do… _something_, though what, exactly, she didn't know.


	19. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! Two things. 1) Thank you to "Guest" for that lovely review. 2) I am starting college today and will therefore not be able to write as much as I normally do. And I am already running out of chapters to give you, so from now on I will only be able to update one chapter at a time instead of two. Thank you guys so much for all your support! Enjoy the chapter! – Fira**

_Eighteen_

It was utterly chaotic. Zuko had been annoyed at Maya for coming. She was the only one in their group who wasn't riding a rhino. There hadn't been enough for all of them to have one, and she was _not_ riding on the back with one of the guards. She was also the only one who wasn't wearing Fire Nation red. A few days back they had stopped at a town to resupply, and Uncle had given her some money to go get clothes that fit. The town was part of the Earth Kingdom, so obviously, the only fashions available were Earth Kingdom fashions. Maya now wore a pale yellow tunic, trimmed in light green, and forest-green pants. It wasn't exactly her style, but it was better than the too-large men's clothing she'd _been_ wearing.

It was actually good for her to be the only one not wearing Fire Nation red, because that meant she wasn't an immediate target. And the fact that she wasn't on a rhino also helped. So, she was probably the safest one there. As Zuko and the two guards made their way down the ramp to the shore, Zuko said to the guards, "Find the Avatar. I want him alive."

Maya stood next to the ship, out of the way of the ramp. Uncle had refused to come onto the island, claiming he didn't want anything to do with the fighting that was sure to ensue. He'd tried to get Maya to stay behind as well, but she'd refused. She would watch. That was all. Hopefully she wouldn't need to save Zuko from anyone trying to kill him. But if it came to that…

And suddenly, she was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a loud grunt, and then a yell. She looked up. There was a woman in thick face paint, and odd clothing standing over the top of one of the guards. She was a Kyoshi Warrior. Maya had heard of them throughout her travels in the Earth Kingdom. They were known to copy the fighting style of Avatar Kyoshi, the last Avatar born to the Earth Kingdom – the one before Avatar Roku.

Maya watched as, one by one, the women warriors brought down each guard. There had been other guards that had come off the ship, but only the two in front had been riding rhinos. Maya was impressed, and slightly afraid. If they realized she was part of Zuko's group, they'd start attacking her, too. She backed away, closer to the ship, and made sure to stay quiet. Hopefully no one would notice her.

At some point, she lost track of Zuko, so she had to move. Slowly, she made her way down the streets of Kyoshi Island, and when she spotted Zuko up ahead, she stayed where she was, watching him. He was still atop the rhino. Suddenly, one of the Warriors jumped down off of the roof above him. Maya was surprised she hadn't noticed her. The Warrior knocked into Zuko, causing him to fall off his rhino. The animal ran away in surprise, and Zuko was surrounded by three Warriors.

They began to close in on him, and Maya took a step forward, ready to defend him. And then he was on his hands and spinning in a circle, feet out, shooting flames at the girls. They were knocked back. One woman went crashing through the door of one of the houses, another girl slammed into a wooden support beam, and the last crumpled into the ground a few feet away. Zuko quickly got up.

"Come out, Avatar!" he shouted into the air. "These little girls can't save you!"

"Hey!" came the return yell. "Over here!"

Maya turned and saw Aang standing in an alley.

"Finally," she heard Zuko mutter.

Silently, she sent a plea to the spirits that somehow neither of them would get too injured. She watched as Zuko and Aang squared off, circling one another. Zuko shot first, sending a fireball at the boy that sent him flying backwards and knocking his staff from his hand. Suddenly, a Kyoshi Warrior ran in front of Zuko and proceeded to attack him using the customary fans. Zuko sent her crashing to the ground, and her fans clanged against the ground, landing in Aang's vicinity.

He used airbending to suck them up into his hands, and then charged at Zuko. Zuko and Aang ran towards one another, and then Aang stopped. He pulled one of his arms back, fan open, and then threw his arm forward again. Maya felt a blast of air that, had it been coming directly at her, would have knocked her off her feet. As it so happened, Zuko was sent flying backwards into the wall of a house, and then he landed on the porch and did not get up again.

Maya did not notice Aang as he picked up his glider and flew away with it. She ran over to Zuko as quickly as she could, kneeling down beside him. She put two fingers on his wrist. He was still alive. "Zuko," she said loudly. He did not respond. She shook him slightly, and lightly slapped his face. "Zuko! Wake up!"

He lifted his head and moaned. And then he seemed to remember what had just happened and sat up quickly, holding his head in his hands. "The Avatar," he rasped. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Maya said. "He flew off after he knocked you out. Are you okay? You must have hit your head really hard to pass out like that. Maybe we should just go back to the ship and cut our losses. We can always find him again. You should really get your head checked out by the ship's physician."

"No! I need to capture him before he gets too far away!" Zuko quickly stood up and looked around.

And then they heard a loud, grumbling noise above them. Maya looked up. The Avatar's fluff-monster was back. "Zuko!" she said.

"I know! I see it!" He turned and yelled to the guards who had slowly made their way back to him, "Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of him!"

Maya followed them back into the depths of the ship. _Where to now?_ she wondered.


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! I just want to give a quick shout-out to my friend Ninetails 44. That is all. Enjoy the chapter! – Fira**

_Nineteen_

It had been five days since their defeat on Kyoshi Island, and Zuko was in an even worse mood than normal. They'd been tracking the Avatar since his escape, but had not been able to catch up to him completely. Maya had been doing everything she could to cheer him up, but, as usual, he'd refused to listen to anything she'd said.

Now, on the morning of the fifth day, Maya, Uncle, and Zuko were all, for once, eating breakfast _together_. It was extremely awkward. Maya remained silent, as did the other two. She was afraid to even _look_ at Zuko, let alone _talk_ to him. He had finally stopped stomping around next to her room, which she supposed was a good thing. Or maybe he was just plotting his next evil plan to irritate her. Either way, she didn't want to piss him off.

They were nearing another Earth Kingdom village, which, by the looks of it, had already been overtaken by the Fire Nation. She had spotted a few Fire Navy ships close by. They were running out of supplies again, so they planned to stop for the night once they actually got there.

A few hours later, Maya, Uncle, and Zuko were up on deck. They were going to land at the dock of the town any minute now. Zuko was looking through his telescope like usual. That was when he spotted the Avatar's flying bison. Maya wasn't actually sure if that was what it was called, but that's what Zuko had started referring to it as. She was perfectly willing to continue calling it "giant fluff-monster", but she wasn't going to tell Zuko that.

The Avatar and his friends made no sign that they had spotted the ship, perhaps because they could not pick it out from among all the _other_ Fire Navy ships. They landed near the village.

"Perfect," Zuko said. "We can ambush them."

"That might not be a good idea," Uncle replied, sipping his tea. "Don't you remember what happened on Kyoshi Island? The Avatar nearly gave you a concussion."

"Yes, I remember," Zuko hissed slowly through his teeth. "I don't need you to constantly remind me, Uncle."

Maya sighed. "But he might have a point, Zuko. What if next time, it's more than a concussion?"

"What would you care?" he snapped.

"Hey! _I'm_ the one who had to convince you to go see a doctor, remember? Don't tell me I wouldn't care if you got hurt!"

"Whatever," he said, turning on his heel to look back at sea.

Maya looked at Uncle, who smiled at her. She sighed. She still thought Uncle was crazy if he thought Zuko was her friend.

**P.S. – I may or may not start posting more than one chapter again. It depends on my work load and how much time I spend writing. Thanks for all your support! – Fira**


	21. Chapter 20

_Twenty_

In short, the let's-ambush-the-Avatar plan had not gone over as well as Zuko had hoped. Soon after arriving, the Avatar and his friends seemed to have vanished. Zuko had refused to go into the village to look for them. He said that it would tip them off that they were being watched. He had stayed on the ship as the other crewmembers had gone in to resupply and get drinks.

That night, though, things changed. Maya watched from the pier as some sort of a fight broke out on one of the Fire Navy ships that had been drifting lazily all around the harbor since before she, Uncle, and Zuko had arrived.

From her vantage point, she could not tell what was going on, but she could hear shouts, and see the fire blasts. And then, after a few minutes, she saw the Avatar's bison fly overhead and hover near the ship. Then, after a moment, she saw it fly away again. Was it the Avatar who had been wreaking so much havoc on the ship? Quickly, she made her way up the gangplank of Zuko's ship.

She didn't find him on deck, otherwise she knew he probably would have already gone sailing away without telling anyone, chasing after the Avatar. She went down below and banged loudly on his door.

No response for a moment, and then a very angry-looking Zuko appeared in the doorway. When he saw her, his angry expression only worsened. "_What_?"

"I just saw the Avatar fly away," she said quickly, before he could slam the door on her. "There was some sort of a scuttle on one of the Fire Navy ships sailing around the harbor, and then the Avatar's fluff-monster came over, and then waited, and then flew off. I presume that meant the Avatar had been on the ship and called him, and then he got on and they flew away."

"No!" Zuko yelled, pushing past her and out into the corridor. "He escaped from me _again_?" He looked over his shoulder at her. "Maya, come with me! You have to help me wake Uncle and the crew from the inn, so I can go look at this ship that was attacked. And then you have to tell me what direction they flew off in, so I can follow them."

She hesitated. "You're not just going to sail off and leave Uncle, then?"

He stopped and turned to look at her fully. "Why would I ever do _that_? Besides, even if I wanted to, I need the crew. I can't run this ship on my own." He turned and walked quickly down the rest of the corridor, and up to the deck.

Maya followed. "What, I don't even get a _thank you_?" she called after him. "I could have chosen to _not_ tell you!"

He sighed, but continued walking, making his way down the gangplank. "Thanks, Maya. Really appreciate it. Whatever. Let's go."

She smiled. Although his answer had sounded irritated, she knew that somewhere deep down, he really meant it. She picked up the pace and hurried after him.

An hour later, they stood on the deck of the ship that had been attacked. The aftermath was confusing. There were great piles of _coal_ scattered around, some of it smoldering, having been set on fire by the ship's crewmembers. Maya listened as the nearest member explained that one of the Avatar's posse had come aboard that morning, pretending to be an earthbender. This ship, apparently, has been used as a prison for any earthbender in the village who used their bending because the Fire Nation soldiers had deemed it illegal to do so. Maya shook her head at this, but continued listening.

The girl had gotten the earthbenders to start a riot, which the Avatar had helped along by somehow getting the coal from the engine room up to the deck through an air vent. A battle had ensued, which the earthbenders had won, and the Avatar and his friends had escaped.

Zuko, after listening with an eerie calm to the entire story, shouted angrily and shot a fireball from his fist. Then he began pacing up and down the deck. It was then that he stooped down to pick something up. At first Maya assumed it was a piece of coal that he intended to throw into the ocean out of anger, but all he did was stare at it. She peered around his back to see what it was. In his hand, he held a Water Tribe necklace. At least, that's what she assumed it must be, considering the carvings in it, as well as the blue ribbon. Then she remembered the Water Tribe girl from the South Pole, the one who had called the Avatar _Aang_. That girl had been wearing that exact necklace. She told Zuko so.

"So…" he murmured. "The Avatar is traveling with waterbenders. Maybe I can trade him for this necklace."

She scoffed. "I hardly think that will work."

He spun around and glared at her.

She held her hands in defense. "But you can still try."

Uncle yawned. "Can I go back to sleep now?"


	22. Chapter 21

_Twenty-one_

It had been two days. Uncle had decided to make a pit stop in the middle of nowhere, claiming that there was beauty here that had no rival. Zuko had insisted they move on, but had eventually caved in, stomping away in frustration.

For about a half an hour, Maya and Uncle had walked through the trees, speaking quietly about nothing in particular. It was a welcome relief from the constant bore of the dark metal corridors on the ship. She took many deep breaths, and made sure to listen to the birds. It was quite relaxing, especially since Zuko had refused to step outside with them.

As they continued through the trees, they came across a series of connected naturally made hot springs. Uncle had wasted no time in jumping in, and Maya had been sure to get far away, for fear of seeing parts of him that she definitely did not want to see.

"You can take a turn after I'm done if you want," he called to her. "I will try not to take too long."

"That's okay, Uncle," she called back, leaning against the trunk of a tree. "You take all the time you want. Really."

"That is very kind of you, Maya. I think I'll take you up on that offer."

She laughed quietly, leaning her head back against the bark and looking up through the canopy of leaves. It really was a beautiful day, and the breeze was heavenly. She closed her eyes. And then the sound of distant curses and the rustling of bushes broke the sense of tranquility. She sighed. Zuko.

After another few minutes, he stood before her, sweaty and annoyed. "Where," he growled, "is Uncle?"

She rolled her eyes and threw a thumb behind her in the direction of the hot springs.

Zuko stomped past her. "Uncle!" she heard. "Where are you?" After another moment, "Uncle? What are you doing?"

"You should join me in these hot springs, Prince Zuko. It is quite relaxing. And the temperature is just right. I heated it myself."

"No, Uncle! I'm closing in on the Avatar's trail. We need to leave _now_! Get out of the water!" And then she heard a strange noise come from Zuko, before, "On second thought, why don't you take another few minutes? But be back at the ship in half an hour, or I'm leaving without you!" And then he was stomping back towards Maya again.

"What happened?" she asked, as he passed by her.

He shook his head. As he continued walking away, he called behind him, "Are you coming or not?"

"But you said to be back at the ship in half an hour."

"To _Uncle_."

Sighing, Maya got up and brushed the dirt from the seat of her pants. Then she followed after him.


	23. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: Hi, guys. Sorry I didn't update yesterday. To be honest, I completely forgot. Also, I'm running out of chapters to upload because I haven't been writing as much. Feel free to kick my butt about it to get me in gear! Enjoy the chapter. - Fira**

_Twenty-two_

It had been over an hour since Maya and Zuko had returned to the ship, but Uncle had never showed up. So, they returned to the hot springs with a few guards. Maya thought Uncle had probably just fallen asleep, but Zuko, ever the optimist, automatically thought he had gotten into some sort of trouble.

When they got to the hot springs, Uncle wasn't there, and it looked like some sort of struggle had taken place.

"Something's not right here," Zuko murmured, looking around.

Maya went over to the spring that she knew Uncle had been using. There was an odd pyramid-shaped piece of earth in the center of it, and the water was gone. "Look," she said.

"It looks like there's been a landslide, sir," one of the guards said to Zuko.

He studied the formation closely. "Land doesn't slide _uphill_." He stood up. "My uncle's been captured by earthbenders!"

The search for Uncle took all night, and into the morning. Although, it really wasn't much of a search. It was more of a really long waiting game. Early on in the search, Zuko had come across some very odd tracks. They were, he said, ostrich-horses, a favorite pack animal of the Earth Kingdom. So now, Maya and Zuko were following them. Zuko had sent the guards back to the ship, in case Uncle got free and returned.

Everything was quiet, the only noise being the sound of the rhinos' hoof-claws. And then Maya saw the Avatar's fluff-monster appear from above the tree line.

"The Avatar," Zuko said. He pulled on the reins, causing his rhino to turn in the direction of the bison. Then he stopped, and looked down at the tracks they were following. He looked back up at the bison, and then sighed and looked at the ground.

"Zuko?" Maya said gently. It was all she needed to say to get her point across. _Do you really want to abandon your uncle?_

"Come on," he said, turning back to the tracks. And then he looked down and saw something in the road. It was a sandal. It looked like the kind Uncle Iroh wore. Zuko hopped down off his rhino, picked up the sandal, and sniffed at it. Then he jerked his head away with a gag. "Yep. That's Uncle Iroh, all right. We're getting closer."

Maybe ten minutes later, Maya and Zuko were hiding in the bushes, watching a group of five Earth Kingdom soldiers speak harshly to an almost naked Uncle. It seems they'd had the decency to give him a loincloth.

"These dangerous hands need to be crushed!" one of the men was saying, and Maya wondered exactly what Uncle had been doing all this time to elicit such angry words.

She gasped when one of the men shoved him to his knees, holding him there. Then, the man who had spoken earthbended a boulder so that it hovered directly over Uncle's shackled hands. By the time he had begun to lower it, Maya and Zuko had burst from behind their cover and sprung into action.

Zuko made a flying leap at the boulder and kicked it away. Then he swung his leg around and brought the heel down on the chain that linked Uncle's handcuffs together, which caused them to break.

"Excellent form, Prince Zuko," Uncle complimented as he stood up.

"You taught me well, Uncle," Zuko replied, getting into a ready stance.

Maya had no weapons on her, and neither could she bend. But she knew how to fight well enough. A year on the streets had taught her to keep her wits about her. She also got into a ready stance.

One of the men laughed. "Give up now. It's three against five, and one of you is a girl. You are clearly outnumbered."

"That's true," Uncle said. "But you are clearly outmatched."

Then they attacked. Maya focused on the man closest to her. She dodged the rocks he chucked at her, each one whizzing past her head and thudding into the ground. When she was right up in his face, she grabbed his shoulders and brought a knee up into his groin. He fell to the ground, incapacitated.

Meanwhile, Uncle was using the chains of his manacles to swing a boulder around that had been earthbended at him. Then he stopped spinning and the boulder was released, flying into the man who had originally bended it. Zuko was also taking part in the fight, firebending at two of the men before they even had a chance to use their own bending. They crumpled to the ground at one blast each of a fireball.

The last man was Maya's. He tried to use earthbending to shift the dirt under her feet, but she jumped forward and landed in a roll. Then she got onto her hands and kicked the man's feet out from under him. He fell to the ground and while he was down, she stood up and shoved him off the cliff with her foot.

She took a few deep breaths, and then turned to grin wildly at Uncle and Zuko. "We did it," she said.

"I'm impressed," Uncle said, grinning back at her.

"Yeah, yeah," Zuko said. "We all fought pretty good." He put a hand on his uncle's shoulder. "Now will you _please_ put on some clothes?"


	24. Chapter 23

_Twenty-three_

That night, as Zuko stared out to sea, Maya went up on deck to talk to him. "I wanted to tell you something," she said.

"What is it, Maya?"

"I'm proud of you. You could have chosen to go after the Avatar today, but you didn't. You chose to continue following Uncle."

Zuko gave the tiniest of smiles. "I have a feeling you would not have _let_ me go after the Avatar, even if I had tried."

"Probably not," she said, smiling back. "But I don't think that's the only reason you chose not to."

"Maybe," he replied. "Maybe not."

She laughed quietly. "I'm going to bed now. Try not to make too much of a racket when you come down, okay?"

He looked at her and smiled, just a little. "Good night, Maya."

"Good night, Zuko."


	25. Chapter 24

_Twenty-four_

The next morning, they were back to chasing the Avatar, who, for once, was literally right in front of them. But, unfortunately, that was not really a _good_ thing. Aang and his friends had decided for some reason that they were going to fly their fluff-monster directly into the _Fire Nation_. Maya, Uncle, and Zuko stood on deck. Uncle was yelling at Zuko.

"Please, Prince Zuko, I'm begging you! Turn around now!"

"I can't do that, Uncle!" Zuko protested. "The Avatar is heading into the Fire Nation, so we will do the same."

"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord _banished_ you? What if you are caught?"

"I'm only going into the Fire Nation to chase the Avatar. My father will understand why I have returned home."

"You give him too much credit," Uncle muttered. "My brother is not the understanding type."

"We've got another problem!" Maya interrupted them, pointing out in front.

Zuko and Uncle turned to look. "A blockade…" Zuko murmured.

In front of them, but still many yards away, was a massive Fire Navy force, comprised of at least a hundred or so ships. They were all lined up, one after the other, and they were at least four ships thick.

"Technically, you are still in Earth Kingdom waters," Uncle said quickly, trying to get Zuko to listen. "If you turn around now, they cannot arrest you."

Zuko looked up into the sky. The flying bison was still heading straight towards the blockade. "He's not turning around," Zuko said. "I don't have a choice."

"Yes, you do!" Maya said, breaking into the argument. She was afraid. "Zuko, please! We _have_ to turn around! We can't fight them all! And besides, how are we going to get through even if we're _not_ attacked? We're going to crash into the ships!"

He ignored her. "Bring up the catapult!" he yelled at a few of the crewmembers.

"What are you doing?" Maya yelled. They were all going to die because of this boy's stubbornness.

"I'm going to shoot him down."

"Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried shooting the Avatar down with a fireball? Your ship got severely damaged and because of that, you had to go have an Agni Kai with that jerk Commander Zhiao."

"An Agni Kai that I _won_, if you'll recall," he said.

"That's not the point!"

But he was not listening anymore. The catapult had been lifted to the deck from its storage compartment underneath. One of the men was pouring some sort of black liquid on the rock that lay inside it. It smelled disgusting. Maya put her hand over her nose and Uncle pulled out a fan and began to use it, pulling his head away from the direction of the catapult.

"Really, Zuko," he said, "couldn't you shoot them down with something more fragrant?"

Despite the circumstances, Maya laughed. Leave it to Uncle to find something funny to say in a life-threatening situation.

Zuko used firebending to ignite the black liquid, and the rock burst into flames. "On my mark," he said. Then he waited, glaring up at the flying bison with determination. "Fire!" he yelled suddenly, and the catapult was released, the boulder zooming into the air directly at the giant fluff-monster. At the last second, the bison veered to the right, and the rock splashed harmlessly into the ocean. Zuko cursed.

And then the real trouble started. It seemed whoever was in charge of the blockade had decided either that they also wanted to bring down the Avatar, or that they thought the catapult had been aimed at _them_. In either case, there were now dozens of giant flaming rocks flying into the air and down straight towards the ship.

Maya grabbed onto the railing and held on tight, squeezing her eyes shut. They were going to die. She knew it. Miraculously, none of the rocks hit the ship, all of them splashing loudly into the ocean. This did, however, cause a great wave of seawater to splash up onto the deck and knock a few crewmembers into the railing on the opposite side of the ship.

For a moment, Maya thought they were relatively safe, and then she saw another group of fireballs raining down on them. She again held tightly to the railing. A second later, she felt the massive jolt of impact as one of the fireballs crashed into the ship, nearly throwing her overboard. She whimpered, to her own embarrassment, and then opened her eyes to look. Behind her, there was smoke rising out of the roof of one of the rooms on the ship. A man ran out of the door, coughing from the smoke.

"Prince Zuko, the engine has been hit! We need to stop and make repairs!"

Zuko whipped his head around to look at the man. "Do _not_ stop this ship!" he said, in a low voice.

As they neared the blockade, Uncle tried one last time to get Zuko to turn around. "We are on a collision course!" he said, voice pleading.

"We can make it."

"_Zuko_!" Maya screamed. She did _not_ want to die.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm sorry," he said.

And they continued on, getting closer and closer to the line-up of Fire Navy ships. Maya braced herself for impact, and certain death and/or capture. But then nothing happened. Confused, and still not daring to believe that they had made it through, she opened her eyes and looked up. They were passing through the line of ships. She looked around at the faces of the people standing on deck. They glared. She looked around more, at the ship closest to them – and gasped. Standing on board, grinning, was none other than Commander Zhiao.

"What is _he_ doing here?" she asked incredulously.

"I do not know," Uncle murmured, stroking his beard in thought. "But no matter what his reasons for letting us go, we should all be thanking the spirits. We could have been dead or worse back there."

"What's worse than dead?" Zuko snapped.

"Would you rather be dead, or captured by Commander Zhiao?"

"Dead," Zuko and Maya both responded. He grinned at her. She smiled back.

Later, however, Zuko's spirits had dampened quite a bit. Maya saw him clench the railing so hard that his knuckles turned white. She looked closely at his face. He looked pissed, but that didn't mean anything. He always looked pissed. Even when he looked happy – he still looked pissed. "What?" she said, hoping he'd tell her what was wrong.

He continued to clutch at the rail. "I don't understand. Why did Commander Zhiao let us through? What's he playing at?"

"He wants to follow you," Uncle said. "He knows you will lead him directly to the Avatar."

Zuko was silent for a moment. Maya knew he was thinking. Then he said, "If Zhiao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do."

Maya raised an eyebrow. "What are you thinking, Zuko?"

Zuko smiled at the question, but the smile was not one of happiness. It was one of cunning. He turned and began giving orders to the crew.

Even later, Zuko was standing in a small boat that was being lowered into the water by a rope-and-pulley system. Although it was small, it had its own engine, and did not need to be paddled to work. "Uncle," he called. The old man was standing at the prow, looking at his nephew over the railing. He was unhappily stroking his beard. He had disagreed with this plan from the very beginning. "Uncle," Zuko repeated. "Keep heading North. Zhiao will follow the smoke screen while _I_ use it as a cover."

"You mean _we_," Maya called down, suddenly appearing at the railing. Before Uncle could stop her, she jumped and swung her legs over the side of the ship, landing heavily, but unharmed, inside the little boat.

"What are you _doing_?" Zuko yelled at her, getting in her face. "You're going to get in my way!"

"Too late now," Maya replied, folding her arms over her chest. "Let's go."

"Ugh!" Zuko growled. He spun around so his back was to her. "You're so annoying! If you get in my way –

"I know. You'll do something utterly unspeakable to me. Now, are we going to go say hi to the Avatar, or what?"

Zuko grumbled for a bit, and then he said over his shoulder, "Fine…"

Silently, Maya cheered. Maybe Zuko was coming over to her side – if only just a little.


	26. Chapter 25

_Twenty-Five_

The trek through the rough waves to the crescent-shaped island took maybe forty-five minutes. Throughout those forty-five minutes, Zuko and Maya sat in silence. Maya wanted to talk to Zuko, but she also didn't want to disturb him. He was probably thinking about some sort of plan for once they got inside. But then, planning and Zuko never seemed to go very well together.

"Zuko," she said.

He looked up. "What?"

"What are we going to do once we get inside the temple?"

"I don't know."

She laughed. "Great."

He huffed. "How about instead of making fun of me, _you_ come up with the plan!"

Maya stopped laughing. "Oh, Zuko," she murmured. "You're so sensitive sometimes. I wasn't laughing _at _you. I was just laughing – in general. Am I not allowed to laugh?"

He turned away and didn't respond.

Suddenly, she was angry. "You know, for a minute there last night, I thought you were going to start being _nice_ to me, but I guess not." She folded her arms over her chest and hugged them to her body tightly, as if trying to make herself smaller so that Zuko wouldn't be able to see her anymore.

Zuko sighed heavily and put his head in his hands for a second. Then he looked up. "What do _you_ think we should do once we're inside?"

"Nope. I'm not helping you until you apologize."

He scoffed. "Never mind, then."

It had taken many twists and turns and secret passageways to find Aang, but they had finally done it. And the whole time, they hadn't spoken a word to each other. Secretly, Maya was impressed, but she would never admit that in a million years. She was done trying to be nice to Zuko.

When they'd gotten to the large open room with the ornate, jewel-covered door at the back, Zuko had stopped. Maya hadn't noticed, as she'd been expressly ignoring him for the last hour, and had run into his arm, which he'd stuck out as a deterrent. She was about to yell at him, but then she noticed his expression, and the other voices in the room. Aang was here. Along with his friends, and a few old men in Fire Nation Red.

It seemed some sort of a struggle was going on. Maya watched as the Water Tribe girl and boy attacked and restrained two of the old men. One of the men turned and attacked his own colleague. That meant he was on the Avatar's side. And then the Water Tribe girl yelled, "Now, Aang!"

Maya waited for Aang to do… something. But nothing happened. And then she saw that, while she had been distracted, watching the Fire Nation men get their butts kicked, she'd missed out on Zuko apprehending Aang. Zuko held his wrists behind his back, and was carting him towards the stairs. But then Aang used airbending to knock Zuko down, sending him flying down the stairs, and began running as fast as he could towards the swiftly shutting doors.

The next thing Maya knew, there was a hand clamped down over her mouth, and dragging her over to one of the columns in the chamber. She struggled, and stomped on her assailant's foot, but he did not let up, though she was pleased that he had made a loud grunt of pain with the impact.

Maya was not exactly sure what was going on anymore. There was much chaos in the room, and she could hear Zuko shouting. And then she recognized another, deeper voice, and shuddered. Somehow, Commander Zhao was here. Slowly, she turned her head, and her eyes narrowed in on the big man with the sideburns. His face was up in Zuko's face, and he was still grinning. Maya wanted to smack the man so hard, but she was currently being chained to a column. Her arms chafed against the metal chain, so she stopped struggling. At this point, they were probably all going to die, anyways. She yelled at herself silently for being so easily distracted. She'd let her anger at Zuko get in the way of her instinct and judgment.

After Zuko and Commander Zhao were done yelling at each other, Zuko was also chained the column. When the guard who had chained him was out of earshot, Maya leaned close to Zuko and said, "What now?"

He just turned and glared at her. Then he sighed. "Now we wait. While you were busy getting chained to this thing, the Avatar somehow got inside Roku's sacred room, and Roku's spirit sealed the doors shut."

"So that's what that random flash of light was…"

Zuko scoffed. "I was right. You're completely useless. I told you that you'd get in my way."

"Zuko, I was _never_ in your _way_! In fact, I specifically stayed _out_ of your way the entire time just so that you would not be able to yell at me for it." Maya was getting angry again. She forced herself to calm down. She would not let anger impede her judgment again.

"You could've helped me, though. After the Avatar knocked me down, he ran straight past you! Why didn't you grab him?"

She sighed. "Number one, because I have never agreed with this whole thing about you capturing Aang in the first place, in case you haven't noticed yet. And number two, because while you were picking yourself up after being thrown down a flight of stairs, I was being assaulted by a Fire Nation soldier and tied to a pillar. Even if I had _wanted_ to help you capture Aang, I wouldn't have been able to."

"If you hate the idea of me capturing… _Aang_ so much, then _why_ did you come with me in the first place? In fact, why haven't you gotten off the ship and stayed at some town that we stopped at yet? Why are even still with us?"

Maya did not have an answer. She stared at Zuko for a long time, opened and closed her mouth once or twice, and then looked away and shrugged, furrowing her eyebrows. The reasons behind all those questions he had asked had seemed to make so much sense in her head when she had thought of them herself. But now that he was throwing them in her face, she seemed to have forgotten all of her answers for them.

A few minutes later, Maya heard a loud grating sound.

"The second you see the Avatar, unleash all your firepower!" Commander Zhao shouted.

Maya turned and watched as the doors opened. In another second, she saw a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness, but nothing else.

"Aang, no!" the girl named Katara yelled.

"Now!" Zhao commanded at the same time. He, along with all the other soldiers and fire sages unleashed a great torrent of flame into the area where Aang's glowing eyes were. And then the flames were separated, and between the two columns of fire was… _Avatar Roku_!

Maya and Zuko gasped. _How is this possible? _Maya asked herself. _Did Aang turn into Roku somehow? Or is it just an illusion?_

She didn't have any more time to wonder, though, because now there was a giant wave of fire coming straight at all of them. She turned away, expecting any minute to burn to a crisp, but then suddenly she felt the tightness on her body from the chains go away. She opened her eyes and looked down. The chains had somehow melted away, but she and Zuko were completely unharmed. Before she could start questioning things again, Zuko grabbed her wrist and pulled her along as he raced down the stairs.

The second he knew she was following him, he let go of her and they fled the temple as quickly as they could. By the time they made it back to their little boat, there was lava spewing from every window and crevice in the temple, and the tower at the top was leaning to the side, slowly melting. She and Zuko watched as Aang and his friends flew away on their bison. She didn't know if any of the others made it.

Later, when they had safely made it back to the mother ship, Maya wearily said a few words to Uncle that she did not remember later, and then went into her room and crashed in her bed. It had been an exhausting few hours. If this was how the rest of her time with Zuko was going to be, she thought maybe she really _would _have to get off at the next stop, as a safety precaution more than anything.

With a smile, she fell into a long, dreamless sleep.


	27. Chapter 26

_Twenty-six_

Over the next few days, nothing particularly interesting happened to the group. They stayed on the Avatar's trail and did not lose sight of the flying bison, which was refreshing after so many times where they had no idea where he was. For Maya, it meant that Zuko was in a better mood than usual, which was good since he'd been extremely angry the first day back from the Avatar Roku disaster. He'd refused to eat and had kept to his room all day. So when he'd been almost cordial to her the next morning, Maya was both slightly afraid, and unusually optimistic about her continuing quest to become Zuko's friend.

That is, until this morning. Everything was going smoothly. Zuko was on deck practicing his firebending as usual, and Maya and Uncle were in the wheel room. Uncle was teaching her how to play pai sho.

"You see, Maya," he was whispering to her so that his opponents would not hear. "I have a secret weapon up my sleeve. It is… my lotus tile." And that was when the happiness shriveled up and died and everything returned, unfortunately, to normal. It started when Uncle realized that his lotus tile was missing. And, apparently, missing a lotus tile in a pai sho game is like missing oxygen on Earth. He immediately stopped everything he was doing and desperately told the captain, "We must change course! Find me the nearest town! I must have my lotus tile back!"

The helmsman checked the map for a moment, and then changed direction of the ship accordingly. A few seconds later, Zuko stomped into the room. "What is the meaning of this mutiny?" he yelled, going right up to the helmsman. "No one told you to change course!"

Maya sighed. _Hello, Angry Zuko_, she thought to herself. _Glad you could join us once again_.

"Actually," Uncle said, "I told him to change course."

"_What_?" Zuko exclaimed, spinning to face him, his ponytail whipping around with him.

"You see," Uncle began, raising a finger. "I have lost my lotus tile, and –

"What are you talking about, Uncle?" Zuko interrupted him.

"My lotus tile. For my pai sho game. You see," he began again, "I must have a lotus tile in order to employ my secret weapon in pai sho. I am so far unbeatable in pai sho as long as I use my lotus tile. So, that is why I have changed our course. I must find a new one, so that I can get _on_ with my life."

Zuko stared incredulously. Maya burst out laughing at the stupid expression on his face, but he didn't seem to notice her. "You changed our course for a stupid _lotus tile_? What's wrong with you, Uncle? I need to be chasing the Avatar!"

"But don't you see?" Maya replied. "If Uncle doesn't get his lotus tile, then he can't go _on_ with his life, and that means he'll die, and then you'll feel bad. So, actually it is more important right now that we get Uncle his lotus tile than for you to be chasing Aang."

Uncle chuckled and said, "Well, I don't know about _that_, but…"

At the same time, Zuko turned his gaze on her. "I can't believe you're encouraging this, Maya…"

She grinned widely and tried really hard not to laugh. "I think Uncle is rubbing off on me."

Zuko suddenly leaned his head back and let out a burst of flame from his mouth, which scared the crap out of Maya. Uncle just smiled and said, "I'm very lucky to have such an understanding nephew."

An hour or so later, they arrived at the little seaside town. For the next three hours or so, Maya followed Uncle around. They both searched in vain for the famed lotus tile, but any such item seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet. This seemed to make Uncle quite depressed, and in his depressed state, he ended up buying nearly everything in every shop.

Later, when they met Zuko outside a little teashop, Uncle explained the tragedy about how there were _no_ lotus tiles in the _entire_ marketplace!

Maya put her head back and put her arm on her forehead dramatically. "How can he ever get _on_ with his life?"

"Would you _stop_ that already?" Zuko shouted angrily. "It's nice to know that this trip was a _complete _waste of time for _everyone_!"

"Well," Uncle said, "not really." Just as he was speaking, three of the crewmembers staggered by, carrying a ridiculous amount of _stuff_ back to the ship.

Zuko stared at them for a moment, and then he said, "And why did you buy all this useless crap, Uncle? I mean, _really_? A _tsungi_ horn?"

"It's for music night on the ship. I always say, the only thing better than finding something you were looking for is finding something you _weren't _looking for at a great bargain."

Maya laughed. _Oh, Uncle_, she thought. Out loud, she said, "Well, that means we're done, right?"

"Not quite," Uncle replied, smiling mischievously.

"Ugh!" Zuko exclaimed. "What _now_?"

"I just found a place where they might have a lotus tile." He pointed to the docks, specifically at a particularly pirate-y looking ship.

Maya cringed. Her last run-in with pirates had ended in her near-death. Also, for some reason, this particular ship looked extremely foreboding, like some giant monster was hiding in its depths and was going to pop out and eat them all at any second.

She guessed that Uncle saw her expression, because he said, "I promise I will be quick. I just want to check, and then we'll be on our way."

She smiled. "Yes. We will be _on_ our way, so that you can get –

"Don't even say it," Zuko interrupted.

When the little group stood just inside the ship, Maya felt a chill go up her spine. That was her second guess that something was wrong. Her third was when she looked up from a shelf-full of oddities to see one of the pirates staring at her. He wore a large, tri-corner hat and there was a big green parrot sitting on his shoulder. When she saw him, she froze for a moment, and then instinctually hid herself behind Uncle, who immediately noticed.

He gently pulled her aside. "What is it, Maya?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"These pirates…" she began. "They're the same ones who… when I was attacked… before you found me… I mean –

"I see," he said. "Don't worry. Just act natural, and they will not even realize that you are on to them. Do not let them scare you. Neither I, nor Zuko would ever let anything happen to you."

This statement calmed her down a little. "Are you sure about that?" she said, jokingly raising an eyebrow in Zuko's direction.

"You still don't think he likes you, do you?"

"No. And I still think you're crazy."

Uncle did one of his belly-deep laughs. "Well, think what you want, Maya. Zuko likes you."

Suddenly, Zuko turned around and said, "What?"

Both Uncle and Maya jumped. "Uh… Nothing, Prince Zuko," Uncle said quickly.

A few minutes later, Maya was doubled over laughing at one of Uncle's crazy antics. He had been looking for something nice to buy, to add to the décor of the ship, and had come across an odd-looking money. The monkey was made of rock, but it had inlaid rubies around its neck, and rubies for eyes. It also had an overly-large, utterly creepy grin plastered across its face that reminded Maya of Commander Zhiao in the worst way possible.

Uncle was now holding the monkey next to his face in comparison and stretching his own grin as much as he could, in an attempt to make the thing seem less creepy. After Maya was done laughing, she said, "That's a pretty good likeness, Uncle. It's actually kind of scaring me more than before."

That was when she heard the words, "We lost the Water Tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with." Slowly, she turned to look at Zuko.

He had already gone up to the pirate who had spoken and said, "This bald monk. Did he have an arrow on his head?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I've been looking for him." Zuko got a gleam in his eye. "I will pay you well if you help me track him down."

"Only if you help us get our waterbending scroll back. That stupid girl stole it from our shop."

"Deal."


	28. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: Hey, guys. I keep forgetting to put these author's notes in here! . I have a terrible memory... Anyways! I'm sorry about the infrequency of my chapter updates. I just started college and I have a big test coming up in two days and I've been studying/reading a lot, and I haven't had time to write so I've been trying to space out the timing between updates so that I always have something to give you. (Sorry for the run-on sentence. Can I tell that I'm stressed yet, guys?) Sigh. Anyways, I would like to thank Topazione and booklover1598 for your continual support over the months. You guys are GREAT and inspire me to keep writing this fanfic! ... I think this A.N. has run on long enough. Happy Reading, and please Review! - Fira**

_Twenty-seven_

It was nighttime. They had been searching for the Avatar since mid-afternoon, and now Maya guessed it was at least midnight. She was exhausted, but she was too afraid to fall asleep. The circumstances they were under were not good. One, she knew that every time Zuko tried to capture Aang, they always ended up in trouble somehow. Two, there were pirates on board their ship. The same pirates who had nearly killed her before. No. She was definitely _not_ going to get any sleep that night.

She got up from her makeshift bed in the little boat that they were on, and went up on deck to join Zuko and Uncle. Earlier, Zuko had told the pirates to search the riverbanks for any sign of Aang and the others. When asked why, he'd replied, "They stole a waterbending scroll, right? So they'll be on the _water_."

So now they were going up and down the river, looking for any sign of the Avatar, although the pirates did not know that. Zuko had never told them that the boy they were looking for was the Avatar. He didn't want them turning mutinous on him.

By the time Maya joined them, Zuko had already figured out where Katara was. It wasn't hard to figure out. Even Maya could tell that she was there along the riverbank somewhere. She was making so much noise. At some point, it sounded like she said, "Stupid scroll!"

Zuko ordered their boat to be tied up at the bank a little downriver from where she was, so that she would not have the chance to run away or alert Aang that they were being followed. When they all got off, he ordered one of the pirates to go and capture her, and then followed silently behind. Maya went with him, promising him that she would be quiet as a mouse. Soon enough, she stood silently in a little copse of trees off to the side and watched as Katara was cornered. The pirate came up behind her, frightening her and causing her to turn to run away, which was when Zuko grabbed her by the wrists, smiling and saying, "I'll save you from the pirates."

Maya thought that was a little bit overdramatic, but it was definitely Zuko. He was the biggest drama queen she knew.

A few minutes later, they had Katara tied to a tree, while Zuko interrogated her about Aang's whereabouts. "Tell me where he is!" he shouted at her.

"No!" she shouted right back.

Zuko tried a different tactic. "Try to understand. I need the Avatar to restore something I've lost. Perhaps, in return, I can restore something _you've_ lost." He took her necklace that he had found that day on the destroyed ship out of his pocket and flashed it in front of her face.

She gasped. "My mother's necklace! Where did you get that?" she snapped.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you mean. Don't you want it back?"

"I will _never_ tell you where he is!" she yelled. Then she looked directly at Maya. "I can't believe you're letting him do this! Aang told me you let him escape once. So why are you still on Zuko's side about this?"

Maya flinched. Great. Now Zuko would know about that.

"_What_?" he shouted, spinning to face her. "You let the Avatar escape once?"

"Um… Maybe," she said nervously. "It was that very first time, when he was on the ship right after we left the village at the South Pole. He escaped the guards and he was running around looking for his staff, and I saw him coming, and I just kind of let him go past me."

"I can't believe this! Have you been helping him the _whole time_?"

"_No_!" she yelled indignantly. "If he had ever tried to hurt you directly, I would have killed him myself. That day at Kyoshi Island, when he used the fans to slam you into that wall, if I hadn't been worried about your immediate survival, I probably would have beat the crap out of him for it! I thought you were dead before I checked your pulse…"

At this point, Maya knew she had said _way _too much. Had she just openly admitted to _liking_ Zuko? What? But she _didn't_ like Zuko! What the hell was the matter with her? She quickly looked at the ground, and was glad it was nighttime so that he would not see her blushing.

Any minute now, she was expecting him to do something horrible to her, or tell her that she wasn't allowed back on the ship, or something. But before he could say or do anything, one of the pirates stepped forward.

"I'm tired of this shit," he snapped. "What is this? A love-fest? Give me back my scroll, Scar Boy! I'm outta here!"

Maya looked up. She was fairly certain the Zuko was about to kick his ass for calling him "Scar Boy", but he looked surprisingly calm. He held the waterbending scroll with one hand and looked between it and the pirates. "I wonder how much this is worth?" he murmured. A moment later, he had started a fire in the palm of his other hand and was holding the scroll over the top of it.

All of the pirates simultaneously said something like, "No, don't!" or "Stop!"

Zuko grinned. "A lot, apparently. Now, listen. If you don't help me get what I want, you will never see your precious scroll again. Go search the woods for the boy and bring him back here. Now!"

The pirate leader – the one with the tri-corner hat and the green parrot – hesitated for a moment, and then he grumbled a few curse words and said, "Fine." With a flick of his hand, he and the other pirates spread out through the trees, to search for Aang.


	29. Chapter 28

_Twenty-eight_

The next morning, some time close to dawn, the pirates returned, carrying two bundles over their shoulders.

"_Two_?" Maya said. "Who's the other one?"

"Oh no," Katara groaned. "Not Sokka, too." She looked at Aang. "I'm sorry," she said to him. "This is all _my_ fault."

"No it isn't, Katara," Aang said.

Uncle, who had been quiet the whole time, piped up and said, "Yeah, it kind of is."

Aang and Katara's brother Sokka were tied up, and the pirates then surrounded the three of them.

"Give me the boy!" Zuko commanded.

"Give us the scroll first," the pirate leader replied.

Suddenly, Sokka said, "Wait, wait, wait. You're _really_ gonna give up the _Avatar_ for a stupid _scroll_?"

Maya knew immediately what he was doing.

The pirate leader looked closely at Aang. "Your friend here is the _Avatar_?"

"Don't listen to him!" Zuko said quickly, trying to distract him. "He's trying to turn us against each other!"

"Okay, fine," Sokka said, hands out in defeat. "But I'm tellin' ya, you'll make a much larger fortune on the Black Market if you sell the Avatar than you will for that scroll."

"Shut your mouth, you Water Tribe peasant!" Zuko shouted angrily.

Maya choked on laughter. _Again with the _peasant_ thing?_ she thought. _Zuko, you must have the biggest superiority complex ever_.

"Yeah, Sokka," Aang said nervously. "You really _should_ shut your mouth…"

The pirate leader grinned and put up a hand. "Keep the scroll. We're outta here."

Maya watched as the change came over Zuko. She saw his eyes flash. "You'll regret breaking a deal with _me_," he growled.

And then all hell broke loose. It was all very difficult to follow. All Maya knew was this: At some point, Aang's little lemur thing was attacked by the pirate captain's green parrot, Aang and his friends were cut from their bonds, and they escaped using the pirates' ship. There were a lot of fire blasts and cursing, but she didn't think anyone got too hurt. In the middle of all of this, Zuko and the captain got into a duel with one another, which Uncle had to cut short because it was at this time that Aang was escaping on the ship.

"Are you two so busy fighting that you cannot see that your own ship has set sail?" he asked.

"This is no time for one of your proverbs, Uncle!" Zuko yelled.

"It's no proverb," Uncle replied, pointing in the direction of the ship, which was heading swiftly downriver.

"My ship!" the captain cried, chasing after it on foot.

Zuko pointed and laughed.

Maya was about ready to start laughing too, until she saw _their_ boat going downriver also, being captained by the pirates. Silently, she pointed. Zuko followed her finger, and then yelled, "My boat!" and began chasing after it.

They all spent the next few minutes running after their respective watercrafts and shouting aimlessly to stop. That is, until everyone noticed the massive waterfall up ahead. Maya wasn't sure exactly what happened after that. But then the pirate ship began turning sideways in the water, and was held in that position for about a minute. She presumed that Aang and Katara were somehow using waterbending to keep the ship from going over the falls, but there was a problem with that line of thinking – Zuko's boat, which the pirates were using, was going to crash into the ship.

A second later, that's exactly what happened. With a loud _crunch_, the two objects collided, sending them both down the waterfall to be smashed to bits below. With a sickening feeling, Maya thought, _They're going to die_.

And then, from out of nowhere, the Avatar's flying bison, lovingly referred to as Giant Fluff-Monster, came flying right at the waterfall. Maya, Zuko, and Uncle stood there and watched as Aang and his friends jumped from the deck of the falling ship into the animal's saddle and flew away. It was the craziest thing Maya had ever seen.

The three of them stood in silence for a few minutes, staring at the waterfall. And then Uncle began to laugh. Confused, Maya turned to look at him. "What about this is funny to you?" she asked. "Everyone almost died."

"That's not it," he replied, wiping tears from his eyes. "You're really going to get a kick out of this. The lotus tile was in my sleeve the _whole time_!"

Maya's mouth dropped open. "No. Way." Then she groaned when she saw him hold it up. "You've got to be kidding me. We just went through all that and –

But she never finished what she was saying. Zuko was literally smoking. She jumped. There was _smoke_ coming out of the pores in his body, like he was about to catch on fire. And then he suddenly snatched the lotus tile out of Uncle's hand and threw it as hard as he could into the water down below.

Uncle's grin slowly disappeared, and then he looked at his hand confusedly, as if he expected the lotus tile to just magically reappear in it. Maya wanted to feel sorry for him, but for some reason Zuko had just made their entire situation hilarious. She laughed so hard for so long that she was crying and her sides hurt.

At some point during her laughing session, she noticed Zuko stalking away angrily into the trees.

Uncle took a step forward. "Perhaps I should –

"I'll go," she interrupted him. And with that, she followed Zuko into the woods.


	30. Chapter 29

_Twenty-nine_

When she found him, he was standing in a small clearing, and there was still smoke coming from his body. "Go away!" he yelled, without looking to see who it was.

"Zuko, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

"What do you _think_ is wrong?" he shouted, spinning to face her. "It's like every time he gets near me, things start happening and I lose him again!"

"Aang, you mean?"

"Yes! Aang! The Avatar! Whatever the hell you want to call him! I don't care! But it's like every time I think I'm about to finally capture him, something terrible happens and my life just gets worse!"

She sighed. "Maybe that's the Universe trying to tell you that you _shouldn't_ be trying to capture him."

"And _you_!" he suddenly screamed, getting in her face.

She jumped and took a step back, terrified.

"You let him escape! Don't think I forgot about that! How could you? Do you have any idea the lengths I went to just to _find _him that first time at the South Pole? I had already been searching for a fucking _year_ before you showed up! And you _let… him… go… _Just like that. You fucking let him go. I should kill you where you stand for all the shit you've put me through!"

Something snapped inside Maya. She felt more courageous than she ever had before. "_Zuko_! How _dare_ you talk to me like that? You think I'm such a bad person, but do you even _hear _yourself? You've let this obsession go too far! You're just as bad as my father! Why do I even _bother_ with you? You're such a pain the ass and you're mean to _everyone_! Look, I _know_ you've had a hard life – or so Uncle tells me – but that does _not_ give you the right to treat everyone like shit all the time!"

She took a few deep breaths. "I'm going back to the ship now. I'm tired of feeling like I have to mother you." Before he could say a word, she stomped away back to Uncle.


	31. Chapter 30

_Thirty_

It had been three days since Maya and Zuko had yelled at one another, and, honestly, Maya had had it. She was done. She was over it. She had wanted nothing more than to get as far away from Zuko as possible, but, unfortunately, there was no port in sight. They had been sailing for seventy-two hours straight, and it had been the longest seventy-two hours of Maya's life. She had holed herself up in her room for as many hours as possible each day, but this form of self-torture was driving her slowly insane. Eventually, she decided she'd had enough and went up on deck to get some fresh air.

Unfortunately, Zuko was there. She hesitated when she heard his voice, but then, with a huff, she stomped up onto the deck anyways. She was tired of hiding any time he got anywhere near her. It was time to let this argument go. Zuko was calling Uncle _crazy_ at the moment.

"Why is he crazy this time?" she asked, and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a smile when Zuko jumped at the sound of her voice.

He turned slowly to glare at her, but did not reply.

"I told him that there was a storm coming," Uncle said. "He did not believe me."

Maya looked around at the ocean and the sky. Everything was completely calm. At first, she was also inclined to call him crazy, but then she remembered something. "Actually, I think Uncle is right, Zuko. The weather was just like this the day my ship was attacked by pirates before you found me. A few hours later, I was in a lifeboat, trying not to drown while giant waves knocked into me from all sides."

"Whatever. You don't know anything," he muttered.

Uncle sighed loudly and obviously. "I am getting tired of listening to you two argue like an old, married couple."

Maya put her hands into the air in a conciliatory manner. "Me too, Uncle." She turned to Zuko. "Look, I'm willing to forgive and forget if you are."

He didn't respond.

After an awkward silence, Uncle broke in by saying, "The storm is coming from the north, so I suggest we head south-west to avoid it."

"The Avatar is heading north, so we will do the same," Zuko snapped.

Uncle tried a different tactic. "Think of the safety of the crew, Prince Zuko."

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!"

Maya gasped. Even for Zuko, that seemed a bit harsh. There were at least twenty other men aboard this ship. How could he be so insensitive towards them?

Zuko turned to go back down below, but stopped suddenly. Maya looked up to see what was wrong. One of the lieutenants had come up, and, from the look on his face, he had probably heard what Zuko had just said. Zuko looked at him from across the prow, and then walked up to him and looked him in the eye, which Maya though was kind of funny because Zuko only reached his chin in height.

"Finding the Avatar is more important than any individual's safety," Zuko told him quietly, voice low and threatening, the way it got when he was dangerously close to killing someone by blasting them with a fireball. Then he walked away.

Later that day, Maya was back in her room trying to relax. She could tell already that it was going to be a stressful day, especially if Uncle really was right and there was a storm later. She was not looking forward to that. She had a feeling it would bring back bad memories.

Suddenly, she heard a _slam_ down the hallway, and knew immediately that it was Zuko's door. Sighing, she began an internal battle with herself, trying to figure out whether or not she wanted to try and talk to him. She was sorely tempted to just leave him stewing in his room, but she felt like that would be giving up. She was going to figure out what was wrong with Zuko even if it killed her. At this point, she'd spent too much time aboard this ship to leave now.

Maya didn't know exactly _why_ she wanted so badly to help Zuko. She had a nagging feeling that it had something to do with the fact that she and Zuko both had crappy childhoods, and that she just really wanted someone to relate to. But she brushed that off. It made her seem pathetic. So what was the next reason? She thought about it for a minute, and then blushed and threw that idea out also. How in the hell could she justify to herself having a crush on the biggest jerk she'd ever met outside of her father? No. That definitely wasn't it, either. She finally settled on the idea that maybe she was just doing it to be a good person, and with that, she walked down the corridor and knocked on his door.

After a few long seconds, she heard his voice through the metal door. "I know it's you, Maya," he said. "Go away!"

"No."

"Fine. Then stand there by yourself. I'm not gonna talk to you."

"Yes you are, Zuko. What happened this time?"

He did not answer.

"Zuko, open the door."

He still did not answer.

"Zuko! Tell me what happened!"

"Leave me the fuck alone!"

Sighing, Maya stalked away back to her room, but when she got there, suddenly she was horrified at the thought of spending _any _more time inside that claustrophobic place. She had to go up on deck. That plan, however, was also a flop. It had started raining already. She sighed again. _Now what?_ she asked herself. A moment later, her grumbling stomach answered her. _The kitchens, then._

When Maya entered the dining hall where she normally ate with Uncle and Zuko, she found it depressingly empty. She didn't feel like sitting by herself, so she turned around and headed farther down the corridor, to the mess hall where the crewmembers ate.

When she stepped in the doorway, the chatter died down momentarily and they all looked up at her. She looked around awkwardly, and then the chatter resumed and she sat down at a spot away from everyone else. She ate silently, staring down intently at her plate of food so as not to attract attention. She got the feeling that the other crewmembers didn't like her much. But how would she ever make friends if all she did was hide in the corner?

Just as she was contemplating whether or not to go over to the fire pit where all the others were sitting, she overheard one of the men say, "I'm tired of this kid! I'm sick of following his orders! I'm sick of chasing his Avatar! I mean, who does Zuko think he is?"

"Do you _really_ want to know?" a different voice interrupted. It was Uncle.

Maya looked up from her food in surprise.

"General Iroh," the man who had spoken before said. "We were just –

"It's okay," Uncle interrupted, putting up a hand. "May I join you?"

"O-of course, sir."

As Uncle went and sat down beside the fire, he said, "Maya, you may want to come over here and listen, as well. I know you have wanted to know what Zuko's story is. This will be the first and last time I will tell any of you."

Slightly surprised, Maya got up out of her chair in the corner and dragged it over to the little fire pit. Once she was settled, Uncle began his tale:

"Try to understand," he said, stroking his beard in thought. "My nephew is a complicated young man. He has been through much. When he was fourteen, there was a meeting in the Fire Lord's war room. We were trying to come up with strategies to take over a part of the Earth Kingdom. When the meeting was about to start, I saw Zuko walking down the hallway towards the war room. He tried to go in, but the guards would not let him. I tried to console him by telling him that these kinds of meetings were boring and that he would not be missing anything if he did not attend, but he insisted that he be let in. He told me that if he was going to rule our nation one day, he wanted to learn as much as he could. It was a valid argument, so I let him in on the premise that he would not speak, as I did not want him to get into trouble.

"Everything went well for the first few minutes. That is, until one of the older men stood up and suggested his strategy. At that time, were up against the strongest benders and warriors that the Earth Kingdom had at its disposal. This man – I forget his name – wanted to put our forty-first division on the front line of battle, to be a distraction while the real attack would be mounted from the rear. However, as was pointed out, the forty-first division was made up of entirely new recruits. When someone mentioned this, the old man said that that was the point. He said, _What better to use as bait than fresh meat?_ I was abhorred by this man's callous disregard for the lives of these soldiers. However, it would have been disrespectful for me to say anything, and so I remained silent."

At this point, Uncle gazed into the fire for a moment, and sighed. "Prince Zuko, however, had other ideas. He told the old man exactly what he thought of his plan. _Those soldiers love and defend our nation_, he said. _How can you betray them?_ He was right, you see. But it was not his place to speak out, and there were… dire consequences. After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's challenge of the general was an act of complete disrespect." Uncle's hands balled into fists. "And…" he turned his head down and away, eyes closed. "There was only one way to resolve this."

"Agni Kai," said one of the men. "A fire duel." Maya realized that the man who had spoken was the lieutenant from earlier in the day.

Uncle looked up. "That's right," he said, voice thick with an emotion that Maya could not pinpoint. "Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent on the day of the Agni Kai, he was surprised to see it was not the general. Zuko had spoken out against the general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war room, it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel his own _father_."

There were a few collective gasps as everyone around the fire pit registered this information. After a few moments of shocked silence, Uncle continued:

"When Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy. But the Fire Lord would not yield. _You will fight for your honor_, he said. But Zuko refused to fight, as one can probably imagine. I'm sure he was horrified by the thought. I watched from the stands as Zuko broke down into tears, on his hands and knees, and begged his own father for forgiveness. The Fire Lord would not listen. _You _will_ learn respect_, he said. _And suffering will be your teacher._"

At this point, Maya knew what was coming. She finally knew where Zuko had gotten his scar. She did not want to hear anymore. Her heart was pounding, she was sweating, and with a sob, she burst into tears and fled from the room, her plate of food crashing to the floor, forgotten. From somewhere, as if from a dream, she heard Uncle calling her, but she ignored him and kept running.

In her state of mind, she did not know where she was going or what she was going to do when she got there. But at some point in the next few minutes, she found herself pounding on Zuko's door, screaming his name and sobbing. A flood of unwanted memories had started in her mind, and there was no way to stop it.

_Her mother, before she died, telling her to be strong. The look on her father's face the first time he burned her. The sound of him laughing. The smell of burning flesh, and the horror when she realized that it was _her_ flesh that was burning. The searing, white-hot pain on her arms and legs and stomach every time he would add another burn. His screaming rages when she would try and fail to firebend. The begging for him to stop. The embarrassment and shame trying to keep anyone from seeing her scars and scabs. The restless nights in the streets when she finally ran away. The feeling she would get sometimes that maybe he was watching her…_

"Maya!"

She gasped, and her vision finally focused again. She realized she was on the floor, looking up into Zuko's face.

"Maya, what the hell is wrong?" he asked, confusion and fear in his eyes. "What happened? Is it Uncle?"

She sat up and continued sobbing. "N-No, Zuko. Uncle… Uncle's fine. I –

But before she could continue, there was a loud crack of thunder and a flash of lightning, and the ship rocked dangerously back and forth. Maya looked into Zuko's eyes, feeling her own widen with fear. He stared at her for a moment, a pained expression on his face, like he didn't know what to do, and then he charged down the corridor and up the stairs to the deck, leaving her alone.


	32. Chapter 31

_Thirty-one_

Dazed, and still crying, Maya slowly got to her feet and followed Zuko up onto the deck. A moment later, she wished she hadn't, as she was immediately drenched in freezing rainwater. The rain did, however, clear her head a little. She looked around. The ship was still rocking back and forth, and there was seawater spewing over the railings as the storm raged on. She didn't see Zuko anywhere, until she looked up and saw him climbing the ladder up to the bird's nest.

She ran out into the middle of the deck and screamed, "Zuko! What are you doing?"

"Maya!" someone shouted behind her.

She turned. It was Uncle.

"Maya, are you all right? You were crying earlier."

"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head. "What the hell is Zuko doing?"

"Rescuing the helmsman."

"_What_?" Maya spun and looked more closely at Zuko. Now there were _three_ people up there. One was Zuko, the other was the lieutenant who had been yelling about Zuko all day, and the last was a man Maya recognized just barely as the helmsman, who was currently hanging over the edge of the railing twenty feet up in the air, screaming. She guessed she hadn't heard him before over the noise of the storm. Suddenly, the helmsman's hands slipped, and he began falling.

Maya flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. But when she did not hear a thump, or a shout, or anything like that, she looked again. Zuko had a death grip on the helmsman's arm, and was slowly lowering him down to the lieutenant, who grabbed him around the waste and helped him get onto the ladder. It was a terrifying moment for everyone. Maya stood, blinking in the rain, trying to keep her eyes on what was happening. If any of them fell… especially if it was Zuko… she didn't know what she'd do.

But after another two minutes, everyone was safely back on the deck of the ship. Maya breathed a sigh of relief, but they still had the storm to worry about. She turned to ask Uncle what they should do, but when she saw him, she screamed. He was being electrocuted by a bolt of lightning. When she looked more closely, however, she realized that that's not what was happening. Somehow, he was actually _absorbing_ the lightning into his body and directing it away from the ship. Her mouth dropped open.

After the lightning left his body, she went over to him. "Are you okay, Uncle?" She choked on laughter at the expression on his face. He was smoking, and his eyes were wide and blinking quickly, as if he wasn't quite sure what had just happened. After a second, he shook himself.

"Yes, Maya," he said. "I'm fine."

"Uncle!" Zuko shouted. He came over to them. "Uncle, what should we do?"

But before Uncle could respond, something big came up out of the water right next to the ship. At first, Maya thought maybe it was a whale, but when it started flying off, she knew immediately that it was Aang's fluff-monster. Somehow, the Avatar had also gotten caught in the storm, though how they had just popped out of the water like that was a mystery.

It shocked everyone. Maya looked sideways at Zuko, to gauge his reaction. He stared.

The lieutenant, who had been standing silently with them, said, "The Avatar! What do you want to do, sir?"

After another moment, Zuko looked away. "Let them go. We need to get this ship to safety."

Maya smiled to herself. Maybe Zuko was learning.

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm," Uncle said.

After maybe another twenty minutes, the violent rocking of the ship and the noise of the storm died down. Maya, who had been on deck the whole time, took a deep breath, and was glad when she did not inhale rainwater. She smiled, feeling relieved that the worst was over.

The three of them – Maya, Uncle, and Zuko – stood in silence for a few minutes. And then Zuko said quietly, "Uncle, Maya, I'm sorry."

Uncle put a hand on his shoulder. "Your apology is accepted." And then, with a smile, he walked away.

Zuko turned to Maya, who smiled at him. "It's okay, Zuko. I know you and I fight a lot, but I want you to know that, really, all I ever want is to know what's wrong. I…" She paused, unsure of herself. But he looked so genuinely interested in what she was saying, and she knew that she might never get another chance. "I know we don't really know much about each other, but I think we could be friends. I think we have more in common than either of us realized before."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

Maya opened her mouth to respond, but then she heard a loud grumbling roar, and quickly shut her mouth for fear that she had somehow been the one to produce it. Then she saw Zuko staring at something behind her, and turned to see what it was. Somehow, Aang had found them again. The boy turned in his seat and stared down at the two of them. It was a surreal moment, as if time had stopped, and they were the only people left on the planet. And then the fluff-monster disappeared in the storm clouds, and the trance was broken.

Zuko and Maya looked at one another, and then Zuko shook his head, as if coming out of a daze. "What were you saying, Maya?" he asked. "Actually, wait. What the hell was wrong with you earlier, when you came downstairs and started banging on my door and screaming at me?"

"Oh." Maya blushed and looked down. "Um… Maybe we should talk somewhere more… private…"

After a pause, Zuko said, "Fine. Come on, then." He began walking in the direction of the stairs.

"What?" Maya said, looking up.

"Just come on!" he called over his shoulder.

Maya hesitated, and then followed after him.


	33. Chapter 32

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, anyone else seen the new episode of _The Legend of Korra_ yet? It was so exciting! Make sure to watch the new season! - Fira**

_Thirty-two_

In a minute or so, Maya found herself staring as Zuko walked through his bedroom door, gesturing over his shoulder for her to follow him. There were a few seconds in which nothing happened, and then he turned around to look at her, eyebrow raised. "Well? Are you coming in, or not? You wanted privacy."

She shook herself and stepped inside, looking around awkwardly as Zuko shut the door. When he saw her, he said, "What? Not good enough for you?"

"No. Just… Last time I was in here, you threatened to burn me. It's just not a very pleasant memory, is all. Makes me feel weird being in here."

Zuko shrugged and then went over and threw himself onto his bed, folding his arms behind his head. After a moment, he looked at her. "You can sit down in the chair if this is gonna take a while."

Maya folded her arms across her chest. This situation was becoming more and more awkward.

After another few seconds, Zuko said, "_What_? Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?"

"You're being nice to me." She immediately wished she had thought of a better response, and cringed.

He scoffed. "You said you thought we could be _friends_. If we're gonna be friends then that means I have to be nice to you now. Also…" He paused. "I don't know. I kind of feel bad. I've been a dick to you. And you're like the only person besides Uncle who's ever tried to be nice to me. So, I think the least I could do is offer you a chair."

She laughed. "Sorry. I know you're trying to be nice. It just feels weird." She grabbed the chair from his desk and pushed it around so that she could sit and face him. It was actually a very uncomfortable chair, and she wondered why he would ever want to sit on it, but she didn't tell him that. Instead, she said, "I want to tell you about me. Specifically, about how I got all of my scars, and why you found me nearly drowned in the middle of the ocean."

Zuko sighed. "This _is_ gonna take a while."

"Just hear me out."

"Fine. Whatever."

And so she told him. She told him about her mother, and how she had died when she was young. She told him about how she was half Water Tribe, and how her mother and father never really got along. She told him about how her father had slowly gone insane once her mother had died, and had started screaming at her for not being able to firebend. She told him about the torturing, and the burning, and the hair pulling, and how every time he burned her, she told herself she wouldn't let him do it anymore.

Then she told him about the year she'd had on the streets. She told him about the odd jobs, and the scary nights, and about being poor and hungry. And then she spoke briefly about the job on the Earth Kingdom merchant ship, and the pirate attack, and the storm. And then she had talked about everything, and there was nothing else to say. And they were both silent for a long, long time, and Maya began to wonder if Zuko had fallen asleep on her. And then he gave a long sigh, and looked at her.

"Why did you tell me all that?" he asked. She could not tell what he was thinking by the sound of his voice or the expression on his face. He seemed completely emotionless.

"Because I figured it would be important for you to know about me, so that you can decide whether or not you're still okay with being my friend."

He didn't speak for a long time. And then he said, "I guess I should tell you about me now."

"It's okay if you don't want to," she replied quietly.

"My father gave me the scar on my face," he said.

She decided that she would pretend like she hadn't already heard the story. "I see," she said.

"I was only thirteen. It was because I had said something in the middle of a meeting full of old generals that I should not have been in. Some guy wanted to sacrifice a new division of soldiers in the war. He wanted to put them up against supposedly the best Earth Kingdom soldiers they had, to use them as bait. I told him that that was pretty fucked up, but I didn't actually say it like that. Then my dad – the Fire Lord – got really angry and told me that I would have to fight in an Agni Kai for speaking out of turn. I thought he was talking about fighting the general, so I said I would do it. Then when I turned around to face that old guy, I saw my father instead. I didn't know what was happening. I wasn't going to fight my own father, so I begged him to forgive me. I told him I would do anything if it meant I didn't have to fight him. And then he told me I was weak and he slashed me across the face with a fire whip."

Maya flinched, even though she knew it had been coming.

Zuko didn't even pause. "And then he yelled at me for not fighting him and sent me off to find the Avatar because apparently that's the only way I can restore my honor." He sounded spiteful and angry now. Maya didn't blame him.

"That explains a lot," she said, after a minute of dead silence. "Now I understand why you act the way you do."

"But _I _don't understand something," he said.

"Well, you can ask me things."

"Okay. Why are so persistent about being my friend? Especially after that one time I got mad and threatened to burn you? I would think that with a past like yours, something like that would traumatize you and you'd want nothing to do with me."

"Well…" Maya thought about it for a little bit. Then she said, "I guess it's because you and I are both broken, and I think I really wanted to fix you because if I could fix _you_, then that means that I could probably fix _myself_, too. Does that sound horrible?"

"Kind of."

"Sorry."

Zuko turned his head and grinned at her. "So we're both broken, huh?"

"Apparently."

He yawned. "Thanks for the heart-to-heart, Maya. But I'm tired now, so I'm going to sleep." He turned on his side away from her.

"Does this mean you're going to stop being a dick to me?"

He turned his head in her direction. "Probably not. But I'll try."

She smiled. "Good night, Zuko."

"Good night."

Silently, she put his chair back at his desk and left the room.


	34. Chapter 33

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! (I guess that's become my official greeting...) Anyways! I'd just like to say that I'm thankful for all the reviews of _Maya_! Also, I _just_ finished writing the first Book! Meaning, I'll probably be uploading way more frequently. So look forward to more chapters more often! You guys are awesome! - Fira**

_Thirty-three_

It had been about a week since the storm, and Zuko and Maya were still being oddly nice to each other. It still made Maya feel a little awkward, but she was happy nonetheless. It gave her hope that perhaps Zuko wasn't as mean as he liked to think he was. He was even nicer to Uncle, who took it as a sign that things were going to change soon, whatever that meant.

Everything was going well for them, except for the fact they had no idea where the Avatar was. Ever since the storm, they had all tried in vain to pick up on Aang's trail, but it had been impossible. Then, something worse happened. They got a visit from Zhao. More specifically, they got a visit from a few crewmembers on Zhao's massive ship. Apparently, he'd been promoted to Admiral, which meant that now he had even _more_ money and resources.

It all happened a little after breakfast. Uncle was playing pai sho with Maya, who was still terrible at it, but getting a little better with each game, and Zuko was standing behind Maya, arms folded across his chest, watching. After approximately ten seconds, he grew bored and turned to look out the window. That was when he saw the giant ship come up alongside them and block out the sun, as if Zhao was trying to do whatever it took to make their lives miserable.

Maya, who had noticed the shadow slowly encompassing the room, looked up. "Who is that?" she asked, when she saw the ship out the window.

"What do _they_ want?" Zuko said at the same time. It sounded as if he knew who it was.

"Who's they?" she said.

"Who do you _think_?" he replied.

She sighed. "It's Zhao, isn't it?"

"Yep."

"Great."

Uncle suddenly clapped his hands together. "Maybe all they want is to play a nice game of pai sho?"

"I _hope_ that's all they want," Maya said.

A few minutes later, there were three angry-looking men in uniform standing together in the little room. The man in front was holding a scroll, which he rolled open and showed to Maya, Uncle, and Zuko. It was a picture of Aang. "Admiral Zhao has requested that all information regarding the Avatar be delivered immediately to him. Anyone who is known to have held back information will be punished."

"Admiral? Zhao has been promoted!" Uncle exclaimed. "Well, good for him."

Zuko folded his arms across his chest. "I don't have anything to report to Zhao."

After a few more clipped words, the three men left. Everyone looked around at each other and gave sighs of relief. After another few minutes, the giant ship was gone, and there was once again light in the room. Maya was happy that they were gone, but when she smiled at Zuko, he did not smile back. With a sigh, he walked out of the room.

Maya and Uncle looked at one another. Maya wanted to go and talk to Zuko, but before she could even get up, Uncle stood and said, "I'll go." She nodded and watched him leave.


	35. Chapter 34

**Author's Note: _So!_ I _finally_ figured out to make freaking _scene breaks!_ Hahahahaha I'm retarded... There's this nifty little feature up in the corner of the "Edit Document" thing that says "Insert Horizontal Line"... Sigh. If only I had known that from the _beginning_, then my transitions would not have been so abrupt. When I type this on Word, and I want a break in scene, I just hit the return (enter) button twice, but when I upload the file onto Fanfiction, it doesn't recognize the double-return as a break. It just makes it go back to a single-return. So, all this time you guys have been getting zero transition from scenes in chapters, when all I had to do was press that neat little button called "Insert Horizontal Line"... Sorry. - Fira**

_Thirty-four_

It had been a few days since Zhao had visited them, and in those few days, Maya and the others had been staying at a seaside town, to break the monotony of the ocean. It was actually quite a pleasant time for all of them. For Maya, it was a chance to get to know Zuko better, since now they were trying so hard to be nice to each other. During the day, they would walk the pier or go into town for lunch, and just talk – although neither of them said much. It was not their way.

They tried, though. One day, while they were standing at the end of the pier, Maya said to Zuko, "Tell me more about your family."

"Only if you tell me more about yours."

She smiled. "Fair enough. How about this, then: you ask me a question, and then I ask you a question, and so on. If it's too hard to talk about, just say _pass_ and we'll think of a different question. Is that okay?"

"Sure." He stood there for a while, looking out at sea, arms resting on the railing. Then he said, "What made you finally run away from your father?"

"I don't know. I guess I was just really tired of it. There was nothing left for me there with him, especially since my mother died. And when I turned fifteen, I guess I thought I was finally old enough to take care of myself. So I just… left."

"But… _how_ did you leave?"

"Hey, I said one question each turn, remember?"

He sighed. "Fine. Whatever. What's your question?"

"Tell me more about your family."

"What _about_ my family?"

"Well… Do you have any siblings?"

He scoffed. "Yeah. My crazy sister, Azula."

"Crazy how?"

"One question each," he reminded her, giving her a sideways grin.

"Right. Ask away."

"Okay. _Now_ will you tell me how you escaped your father?"

"Oh. Well, that was a little tricky. It required stealing all of my father's gambling money, heading out to the docks unnoticed, and bartering a passage to the Earth Kingdom on some old guy's ship. I had to use _all _the money I had with me to get him to let me on, but at least I made it. After that it was all a matter of luck. I either got a job and had food for a few days, or I didn't." She laughed. "I was _worse_ than a peasant back then."

Zuko scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for calling you that."

"It's okay. I know you have a superiority complex."

"What?"

"Nothing. Anyways, can I ask you another question now? And, no, that does not count as one question."

"Go ahead."

"Exactly what did you mean by _your crazy sister, Azula_? Crazy how?"

"I don't know, really." He turned to face the ocean again. "She's always been… strange. There's something wrong up here." He tapped his temple with a finger.

"Oh. So you mean she really _is_ crazy. Insane."

"Yeah. But it's weird. Sometimes you can't even tell that there's anything wrong, and sometimes it so obvious that she might as well be smacking you with her insanity. My mother always said it wasn't her fault, but…"

"Your mother?"

Maya saw him flinch. "One question each."

"Go ahead."

"Can we stop playing now?"

"Why don't you want to tell me about your mother?"

He was silent for a minute. "Come on. It's getting cold out here."

* * *

_T__hat night, Maya had a very strange dream. She dreamed that a cloaked, dark figure was roaming through the forest. His face was hidden by a mask. The mask was blue and white. The eye-holes were outlined in white, as were the nose, the cheekbones and the eyebrows. There were fangs hanging down from the open, smiling mouth, and long, pointed ears on the sides. There was something ominous about it. In the dream, this Blue Spirit wandered the forest, going from place to place, as if looking for something. Then something even weirder happened. Suddenly, Aang appeared at the top of one of the trees, and called down to the Blue Spirit. He said, "Catch me if you can!" and then began jumping from tree-branch to tree-branch, while the Blue Spirit ran around under the trees silently. After about a minute of this, suddenly all the trees began catching fire, and Maya had the awful feeling that she was going to burn to death. The flames grew closer and closer, until for one terrible second she felt the lick of a flame across the left side of her face._

With a gasp, Maya awoke. She quickly felt her face, but breathed deeply after realizing that everything was all right and that she was fine. Quickly, she fell asleep again. In the morning, she did not even remember having the dream.


	36. Chapter 35

_Thirty-five_

Over the next few days, Maya began to notice that Zuko's behavior was becoming odd. He would be fine during the day, but then at night, he would just _disappear_ into town and no matter where she looked for him, she could never find him. Then she'd return to the ship and stay up with Uncle until the small hours of the morning, waiting for him to get back. He'd come up onto the ship and act as if nothing had happened, as if he _hadn't_ been up all night, and any time she tried to ask him where he went when he disappeared, he'd brush her off.

But Maya was persistent. One night she decided to follow him to his room to interrogate him. If it was just that he was seeing some girl in town, then at least she'd know that he was safe. But somehow, she highly doubted that was the case. Zuko was not a very friendly person, not even with her, but she also did not think he would be an ass enough to get a prostitute. She shook her head. Why were her thoughts automatically strolling into the gutter about this? Maybe he just liked to think at night… Maybe he was taking walks or something… Still, she had a weird feeling in her gut that made her need to know the truth. What if he was in some kind of trouble?

When she went to his door, she found it ajar. She was tempted to barge in, thinking he was hiding something, but then she realized how ridiculous that would be, and knocked. A moment later, he was at the door, staring at her blearily. He looked exhausted. Of course he would. It was at least four in the morning at this point. She had stayed up all night also, so she swayed a little as they stood there.

Eventually, he said, "What, Maya?" As he spoke, he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"What the hell have you been doing the past few days, staying out at night?"

"You're blunt, aren't you?"

"I get it from _you_."

He scoffed. "Come in, I guess."

She was slightly surprised, but followed him into his room nevertheless. "Does this mean you'll tell me where the hell you've been?"

"No."

Sighing, she sat down heavily in Zuko's uncomfortable desk chair. "Then what do you want?"

"Nothing. But we're friends, right? That means you can be in my room."

She looked at him carefully as he flopped onto his bed. He didn't _seem_ to be hiding anything. She sighed again and put her head back, closing her eyes. "You're confusing."

"I know." His tone of voice was a sort of mock mysteriousness, as if he were trying to sound attractive about it.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Now you're just toying with me."

He grinned. "A little bit."

"Well, whatever. I'm going to bed now. Good _morning_, since I can't say good _night_." She stood.

He laughed. "Good _morning_."

As she turned to leave, something caught her eye. She looked up. Sitting on Zuko's desk was a mask. It was blue and white, with a smiling mouth and fangs. It seemed to stare at her as it sat there, taunting her, as if it knew something she didn't. With a shock, she remembered her dream from a few days before. "The Blue Spirit," she whispered, unconsciously touching her face where the dream flame had burned her.

"What?" Zuko said.

She jumped, having forgotten he was there. Then, slowly, the puzzle pieces began fitting together. Slowly, she turned to look at Zuko, then back at the mask. _But it couldn't be! It was just a dream_, she thought to herself. _Maybe my brain made it up because I saw the mask in his room the last time._ She thought hard. _But the mask wasn't _there_ last time…_

"Maya, what the fuck are you doing? You're just… _standing_ there."

"O-oh," she stuttered. "Uh, nothing. Just… admiring your mask."

"Not mine. My mother's."

"Your mother's?"

He rolled over on the bed. "Go to sleep, Maya."

She sighed and shook herself. Whether or not her dream and the mask had any significant correlation, she knew she'd never get it out of him. She walked to the door, and before she left, she turned her head over her shoulder and said, "Whatever you're doing, please be careful, Zuko."

"Don't worry," he said quietly.

She left.


	37. Chapter 36

_Thirty-six_

Two days later, they were stopped at another Earth Kingdom town. Zuko, to Maya's relief, had stopped disappearing in the middle of the night. At the moment , she, Zuko, and Uncle, were just sitting down to enjoy a cup of tea. As Uncle poured the tea, he said, "Sometimes just sitting and relaxing can be good for your mental health."

Maya sat holding the cup in her hands. Zuko lifted the cup to his lips, but right as he was about to take a sip, something big slammed into the ship. The tea in Zuko's cup spilled out, and some of it splashed across his face, and got into his ponytail, which had flipped forward in the jolt. Maya flinched. The tea was still hot, and she was afraid Zuko had burned himself on it. But he didn't seem physically hurt – just pissed off. With a growl, he flipped his hair the right way, slammed his teacup onto the table, stood and stormed up on deck.

Maya and Uncle quickly followed, wondering what the hell was going on. In a few moments, Maya was up the stairs and standing on deck, staring at the biggest… _thing_ she'd ever seen. It looked like a cross between a fox and a rat. It was maybe a little smaller than Aang's fluff-monster, but it was still _huge_. And it was _standing_ on the deck!

"What's the meaning of this?" Zuko shouted.

At first, Maya wondered if he was talking to this thing, and then she realized that there was a woman sitting atop it. The woman had a red tattoo on her shoulder. "Stay back!" she replied. "We're after a stowaway!"

"There are no stowaways on my ship!"

Suddenly, with a crack from the woman's whip, the creature lunged forward, dug its teeth into the metal deck and ripped a piece of it off, flinging it away. Maya backed up against the railing, afraid to get in its way. From below, she heard a scream. The creature stuck its head into the rip it had made in the deck, and then lifted its head back out. A second later, a man in Earth Kingdom garb lifted himself up out of the hole and tried to run. Suddenly, the creature's long, forked long lashed out of its mouth and slashed the man in the back, twice. The man fell over and did not get up again, seemingly frozen.

Zuko stared down at the man. "He's paralyzed," he murmured, shock clear in his voice.

"Only temporarily. The toxins will wear off in about an hour, but by then he'll be in jail, and I'll have my money," the black-haired woman replied, smirking as she threw him over her shoulder and climbed onto the creature's back.

"But… How did you find him?" Zuko asked.

The woman patted the creature's neck. "My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away. Well, be seeing ya!" And then she cracked the whip again and they jumped down onto the dock and sprinted away.

Maya, Uncle, and Zuko all ran to the side of the ship to watch them leave.

"I am impressed," Uncle murmured, stroking his beard. "_Very_ impressed."

* * *

The next day, Maya could tell that Zuko was angry about what had happened the day before. The woman had destroyed a part of his ship, and he was up on deck fuming about it. Maya went to him. "Are you okay, Zuko?"

He whirled around. "Does it _seem_ like I'm okay? That stupid girl and rat thing destroyed my ship!"

"We _can_ get it fixed, you know."

"That doesn't mean it's okay that she did it!"

Maya sighed. "So, what do you want to do about it, then?"

"Maybe I will employ her to help me capture the Avatar."

"How?"

"Well, from what she said, that thing can track with its nose. Remember, she said _My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away._"

"Okay. But that means you need something of Aang's for the thing to track, otherwise it won't know what it's doing."

"Oh, I've got something. Remember when I took that Water Tribe girl's necklace? I still have it, and I know that they're traveling together. I could use that. If we find the girl then we find the Avatar."

"Right. Well. Good luck trying to get that woman to help you. Where the hell are you even going to find her?"

"Oh, I'll find her."

* * *

That evening, Uncle, Maya and Zuko found themselves in a bar. The whole situation was extremely awkward for Maya, as she had never particularly liked bars. From her experience, they were horrible places filled with horrible people. This bar was no different. All around her, she could smell alcohol and sweat, and the noise was unbearable to her ears. Already, she had a headache.

Zuko charged past the people in the crowd. "Out of my way, filth!" he yelled, shoving people aside.

"He means no offence," Uncle said to the people he passed, looking around and smiling. "I'm sure you all bathe regularly."

Despite her current situation, Maya laughed.

When they had all made their way to the center of the crowd, Maya was actually kind of impressed. There sat the woman with the shirshu. Maya had honestly not believed that Zuko would be able to find her, but here she sat. At the moment, she was in the middle of an arm wrestling match with a man three times the size of her. From what Maya could see, the man was struggling and sweaty and the woman simply had a smirk on her face.

Zuko walked up to the table and said to her, "I need to talk to you."

She looked up. "Well, if it isn't my new friends. Angry Boy, Angry Boy's girlfriend, and Uncle Lazy."

Uncle laughed at this, and at the same time, Zuko and Maya slowly inched away from one another.

In the next few seconds, she gave a burst of strength and slammed the man's arm down on the table. There were mixed cheers and boos from the occupants in the bar, and suddenly the table was littered with coins.

"Your beast trashed my ship," Zuko said angrily. "You _have _to pay me back."

"Aww, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money." She smiled sweetly at Zuko and then yelled, "Drinks on me!"

A massive cheer went through the crowd. Zuko leaned in and grabbed the woman by the wrist. "Money _isn't_ what I had in mind."


	38. Chapter 37

_Thirty-seven_

"So let me get this straight," Joon said. "You want me to help you track down some girl with my shirshu just because I scratched your precious ship?"

"It's not the girl I'm after," Zuko said. "It's the bald monk she's traveling with."

"Whatever you say. She not good enough for you?" Joon nodded in Maya's direction.

"Maya is _not_ my girlfriend."

At the same time, Maya put her hands up in front of her. "Zuko's not my boyfriend."

Joon raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and looked back and forth between the two of them. Then she looked over at Uncle. "These two don't even know it yet, do they?"

Uncle chuckled. "No."

"Hm. Well, sorry kid," she said, turning back to Zuko. "I can't help ya. Bye!" Joon turned and hopped up onto her shirshu's back.

"Wait," Uncle said. "If you help us, we will pay your weight in gold."

Joon paused, and then looked down at Uncle, pointing at him. "Make it _your _weight, and you've got yourself a deal."

He threw his head back and laughed. "You got it."

Zuko came forward, necklace in hand, and let the giant animal sniff it. The shirshu looked around for a moment, smelling the air, and then went rigid in one direction.

"Get on," Joon said. "Nyla's got the scent."

Uncle got on first, right behind Joon, then Zuko, then Maya. Maya felt a little embarrassed about having to hold onto Zuko's waist to keep herself from falling off, but he didn't even seem to notice.


	39. Chapter 38

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, I recently got a review from a Guest, who requested that I please make the chapters longer. I appreciate your comment, whoever you are, and I hope ****that the reason you asked for this is because you enjoy the story so much that you want more of it. I do apologize to _all_ of you for the seemingly erratic lengths of the chapters. I know sometimes I'll have a chapter that is 1,000+ words, and the next chapter will only be 300 or so. The reason for this is because I follow the storyline very closely, and sometimes Zuko will not be in an episode as much as he was in the last episode, and so I have less to work with. Also, I feel that continuing a chapter just for length - and not content - will interrupt the flow of the story. I've learned through trial and error that if I feel like the chapter should end, then the chapter should end. Also, (again), I am actually already _done_ with the first Book in the series, and so, even if I _wanted_ to lengthen the chapters, it would require me to go back and rewrite _a lot_ of pages. But worry not. I actually have taken your comment about chapter length to heart, and am trying to lengthen the chapters in the second Book as much as I deem fit. I am adding more detail to things if I can, etc. Anyways! Sorry that this A.N. is so long! Just trying to let people know that I _do_ listen to your feedback! Enjoy the chapter! - Fira**

_Thirty-eight_

It had been hours since they had all begun their journey on the back of the shirshu, and Maya was definitely feeling the pain. She had never ridden on an animal for this long, and her muscles ached from being jostled by the creature's constant movement. They'd been up all night, and now she was exhausted. Despite the jostling, she found herself falling asleep…

Suddenly, Maya jumped awake. She had just heard Zuko's voice in front of her, and felt him yank on her arm. "W… what?" she asked, sleepily.

"Maya, be _careful_!" he shouted again. "You almost fell off!"

"Oh… Sorry…" Maya yawned, shaking her head to try and stay awake. "Just tired."

"What, do you think I'm _not_?" he said over his shoulder.

Maya didn't respond. She had a feeling that if she did, she'd end up getting into another pointless argument with Zuko. Instead, she looked around, wondering where they were now. She felt the incline of the trail, and looked around Zuko to see that they were going up a mountain. Suddenly, she had the urge to grab Zuko tighter, for fear of falling off the shirshu.

Eventually, they made it to the top, where, Maya saw, there was some sort of a temple. Standing next the door was an old woman. Sitting beside her was a fat, white-haired cat. When the shirshu approached her, the old woman said, "Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?"

Zuko looked down at her. "We're looking for a girl."

"It's not Miyuki, is it?" the old woman asked. She looked down at the cat. "_Miyuki_, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?"

"Ugh!" Zuko said. "I don't have time for this! Come on!"

With a crack of Joon's whip, they were off once again.

* * *

It was around mid-morning before they stopped again. At some point, Uncle had produced food from a pouch on the shirshu's saddle and they had all eaten a little. The only problem was that now Maya really had to pee. Luckily, a few minutes later, they stumbled into a small Earth Kingdom village. Everyone who had been standing around screamed and scattered as the shirshu continued running, following the scent of Katara's necklace.

The only person in the village who remained calm at the sight of the giant rat-fox and its passengers was an old woman with brown hair streaked with grey that was tied up in a bun. She had a knowing smile on her face, as if nothing in the world could frighten her. The shirshu went right up to her and began sniffing around. It stayed in this one spot for a while, and Joon said, "The girl must have spent a lot of time here."

"That's great," Maya piped up. "I have to _pee_!"

"_What_?" Zuko exclaimed, sounding disgusted.

"Oh. Ah…" Uncle said. He looked down at the old woman standing there and said, "Dear lady, is there a place where this young girl can use the restroom?"

"Of course," the woman replied. "Inside my shop." She looked at Maya. "Come on, then."

Quickly, Maya hopped off the shirshu and ran inside at full speed. A few minutes later, she came out again, sighing with relief.

"Hey," Joon said to her. "You missed it. Angry Boy here made a new friend."

"Would you shut up?" Zuko shouted at her.

"What?" Maya said.

Joon laughed. "Your boyfriend almost got paralyzed by Nyla."

"He's not my boyfriend," Maya replied as she climbed onto the shirshu's back. "Are you okay, Zuko?"

"I'm _fine_!"

With a crack of the whip, the rat-fox took off again.

* * *

A little while later, the group came across another small village, full of only women. Maya looked around at the strange clothing they were all wearing and thought, _This must be some sort of a retreat for women. Maybe an abbey?_ All the women looked old, and, at the moment, they all wore the same frightened expression on their faces.

The shirshu went around sniffing for a moment, and then looked up in the direction of the forest.

"We're getting close," Joon said, snapping her whip again.

"Good," Maya muttered. "Then I can get off this damned thing."

A few minutes later, the shirshu hopped down onto the forest path. In front of it were two people. Maya recognized them as Katara and her brother. Aang, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

"So, is _this_ your girlfriend, then?" Joon asked, as the rat-fox zeroed in on Katara. "No wonder she left. She's way too pretty for you."

Zuko ignored her and got off the shirshu, confronting Katara. "Where is the Avatar?"

"We split up," the boy replied. "He's long gone."

"How _stupid_ do you think I _am_?" Zuko said quietly, getting in his face.

The boy – Sokka, Maya thought his name was – backed up a bit and grabbed Katara's hand. "Pretty stupid," he said. "Run!" Suddenly, they both took off, in the direction of the abbey that Maya and the others had just come from. But before they could take more than three steps, the shirshu's tongue shot out and paralyzed them both. Maya flinched when she heard their bodies slam into the ground.

"What do we do _now_?" Zuko complained.

Maya sighed.

Joon urged the shirshu forwards, and it began sniffing at the bags on Sokka's and Katara's shoulders. "It's seeking a different scent," she said. "Perhaps something that the Avatar held."

The shirshu's nose pushed a scroll out of the bag, and it leaned down and sniffed it. Suddenly it looked up and went rigid. "It's got the Avatar's scent!" Joon said. "Get on and let's go."

"We'll have to bring them with us," Zuko said, pointing at Katara and Sokka.

Maya looked at them, and then down at the saddle, and then at Zuko, and said, "_How_? There's barely enough room for the four of us _without_ them!"

"We'll have to figure it out," he replied.

It ended up being that Katara and Sokka were thrown onto the very back of the shirshu, stomach-down, with Maya squeezed between them and Zuko. For some reason, being this close to him was making her blush, and she could feel her whole face burning. She wasn't sure what was causing this sort of a reaction out of her. It was _just_ Zuko. She tried to give him a little space by not holding onto him, but he only sighed.

"Maya, if you don't hold on, then you're _really_ going to fall off, and there's no time to come and get you if you do."

Reluctantly, she wrapped her arms around his waist, and they were off.


	40. Chapter 39

_Thirty-nine_

A few minutes later, the seven of them – Joon, the shirshu, Uncle, Zuko, Maya, Katara, and Sokka – all burst through the doors of the abbey once again. All the women screamed and scattered, some hiding behind the odd, giant vase-looking things all around the courtyard. Briefly, Maya wondered what they were, until Zuko interrupted her thoughts.

"What's it doing? It's just going in a circle!"

Maya focused on their current situation, and realized that, in fact, the shirshu _was_ going around in a circle. "What –

But she never had time to finish her question. Suddenly, something came flying straight at them from above. Maya jerked her head up to look and knew that it was Aang. The shirshu was frightened by this sudden assault, at the same time that it realized that this whatever-it-was had the scent it was after. It reared up to continue tracking Aang, but it was caught off balance and fell over with a cry of a surprise.

Everyone on its back was scattered. Slowly, Maya picked herself up and checked to make sure that everyone was all right. She heard Katara say, "Aang!"

In a moment, Joon was standing. She cracked her whip and said, "Up!"

With another odd cry, the shirshu flipped onto its feet and allowed the black-haired woman to climb onto its back. But before the shirshu could take a step, suddenly something very big and furry slammed into its side.

With a hidden smile, Maya silently cheered. _Yes! Giant Fluff-monster 1. Nyla 0._

But then, she sighed. Now Zuko was having an angry staring contest with Aang, his fists full of flame. Quickly, she got out of the way as they began their duel. Zuko sent his signature fireball straight for the Avatar, who easily dodged it. Aang began using his glider to sent walls of wind at Zuko. After a minute, Zuko got close enough to kick the glider out of his hands. Now they were locked in close combat. It was hard for Maya to follow every move, but at some point she knew that they had both tried to bend at each other at the exact same time, which had caused an explosion.

Maya gasped as she saw Zuko's body fly through the air, landing with a loud _crunch_ on top of one of the roofs in the courtyard. His body was smoking.

_Oh shit, _she thought. "Zuko!" She started running towards him, thinking for one awful moment of the worst. But in another few seconds, to her utter relief, she saw him get up. He held his head in his hands for a moment, but after that he seemed relatively okay.

Maya watched as he jumped from roof to roof to get to the one where Aang was. The Avatar was still out of it. Zuko began running along the rooftop at him, with a line of fire following behind him in his hand. Just as she shot the fire at him, Aang came to his senses and airbended over the top of Zuko's head.

"Yes!" Maya said to herself. Then a moment later, she muttered, "So, who's side am I on, anyways?"

After that, it was hard to follow again. At some point, they made it off the roof and started fighting over the top of a well, which Maya thought was extremely reckless. What if one of them fell in. Then again, pretty much anything they ever did was reckless.

"You've got something I want!" Aang shouted at Zuko.

Maya looked more closely at Zuko to see what Aang could be talking about. There! Dangling from his sleeve was some sort of… blue thing. _Oh!_ she thought to herself. _Katara's necklace!_

Another few blows were exchanged, until Aang did a backflip and shoved Zuko away at the same time, grabbing the necklace off of his foot, which he had somehow managed to snag on it. This made Maya extremely impressed. A second later, Aang disappeared down the well.

Zuko stood up and went over to the edge. For a second, Maya thought maybe he was going to jump in after Aang, but then he raised his fist and sent a fireball down the well instead. In another heartbeat, there was a giant wall of water shooting up out of the well that shot Zuko up into the air.

Aang also came up out of the well, landing gracefully on the ground as water droplets rained down around him. It was all quite heroic looking – that is – until Zuko landed on his face with another _crunch_. Maya made a sound of pain and flinched, wondering how the fuck Zuko wasn't dead and/or maimed yet.

Zuko lifted himself up yet again and sent a few wild shots at Aang, before suddenly the Giant Fluff-Monster was up in his face. Zuko, to Maya's relief, knew better than to mess with a giant two-ton angry fluffy monster, and backed away.

Then, the sound of a whip sliced through the air, and the shirshu, whom Maya had almost forgotten about, lashed its tongue out at the fluff-monster. At first, it didn't seem to affect him much, but then Joon cracked her whip again and the tongue lashed and lashed. Finally, the fluffy creature was subdued, and fell onto its side with a loud grunt. Maya felt kind of bad for it. But she didn't have much time to think about that because now Aang was trapped up against the wall, simultaneously dodging Zuko's fire blasts and the shirshu's tongue-whip.

And then, if this whole situation wasn't weird enough, suddenly, there was a giant wave of water floating over all of their heads. Maya looked up slowly, just in time to squeeze her eyes shut as she was doused in perfume. She coughed. "What the –

And then the shirshu went totally insane and started randomly whipping its tongue out at people before leaping over one of the courtyard walls and running away. Luckily, Maya hadn't been hit. Zuko, Uncle, and Joon were now all laying on the ground. Joon was laying on top of Uncle.

Zuko opened his eyes. "Uncle?" he said. "I didn't see _you_ get hit with the tongue."

Uncle lifted a finger to his lips and said, "Shh," and then went back to pretending to be paralyzed.

Joon's eyes snapped open a moment later, and she looked royally pissed.

Maya laughed. "This is really weird. What the fuck just happened anyways?"

"I don't know!" Zuko said angrily. "I was too busy trying to regain my honor, in case you didn't notice. Or were you too busy standing around doing nothing?"

"Hey!" Maya said. "Uncle didn't do anything either!"

"Whatever."

Maya turned away, not ready to pick another fight with Zuko just yet. Because of this, she was the only one to see the Avatar and his friends fly off on their fluff-monster. She sighed. "There goes your honor, Zuko."

"Ugh. Shut up, Maya!"

She laughed. "Come on. I'll help you up."


	41. Chapter 40

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, I realized I haven't taken the time to thank all you newcomers yet, so here you go! Thank you to the following people for reviewing, following, and/or favoriting my story: booklover1598, Kihlala Sisters, TheAlleyKat, ray-kun, Guest, Thughes13, WelcometoBangkok, IronicallyMaya, Master of all 118 Elements, valsanz, Avloth, Ayumi kaya, Cho JiHyun, Dark Light2589, FasterThenMyBullet, Flightsnitch96, KalalaLove, LilShorty0594, Little-doodle-laura5663, Saddles18, SailorSedna052, Twilight-lover106, YukiraKuchiki, goldenidol, hungergamespettalover, jmqestar, mysterygirl123, xxTeh-Ninja, ArianeKeisha, Luna6897, Mimi42511, Rose of Dusk, Synnen, TheVoiceInYourHead-x, blacksparrow125, mimchiro, paiza, yoohooha. Wow! That's a lot of people who like my story! Thanks to you ALL for your continous support! You guys are the reason I continue writing this story! (Again, as mentioned before, all those who I have already thanked are not on this list, but that does not mean I appreciate you any less. Also, if I spelled your name wrong/didn't put your name on the list and you think I should have, please let me know). Okay. Thanks, guys! Enjoy! -Fira**

_Forty_

It had been a week since the fight at the abbey, and things were back to normal. Whatever that meant. To Maya, it meant free time on the ship to nag Zuko more about his past. He still refused to talk about his mother, and Maya was not going to push him on it. There were certain things about her past that she didn't want to talk about either.

For a few days after the fight, Zuko had been all sensitive about everything, just like he always was, but after that, he let Maya in again. Mostly that just meant ignoring everything she said, but Maya was beginning to suspect that he did that to tease her, because she would catch him grinning sometimes when she would yell at him for not listening to her.

Even when they were silent with each other, she found the silence companionable. She had learned over time that Zuko wasn't much of a talker if he wasn't angry. Mostly, they would stand beside each other out on deck at night, not saying a word. But it was nice, all the same. Maya began to realize how glad she was that Zuko and Uncle had found her, even though she'd probably be a lot safer if she didn't stay with them.

One night, she asked Zuko, "What would you do if I told you that the next time we went into port, I wasn't going to come back on the ship? That I was going to stay there?"

"I wouldn't do anything. I'd let you leave."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Maya turned back to the sea, feeling surprisingly stung, as if he had slapped her. But the funny thing was, she didn't know _why_ she felt like that. A small voice in the back of her head said, _It's because you like him_. But she squashed the voice. No. That couldn't be it. It would be too weird. A couple weeks ago, he'd been a total dick to her. Now she _liked_ him? No way. But still… the feeling lingered.

* * *

The sound of strings being plucked resounded through the air as the song began. It was nighttime. Maya was up on deck with Uncle and a few other crewmembers. Zuko had gone to bed an hour ago, complaining about a headache. He seemed to get a lot of those.

Now, Uncle's voice began the song in full:

_Winter, spring,_

_Summer and fall._

_Winter, spring,_

_Summer and fall._

In the middle of the deck, two of the crewmembers danced a silly little dance. Maya smiled as she watched them. Her eyes grew tired as she went back to staring into the flames of the small fire they had started to stay warm in the cold sea air. The song continued:

_Four seasons._

_Four loves._

_Four seasons._

_Four loves._

And then Maya heard the sound of footsteps on the ramp leading up to the deck. They had pulled into port that day. She jerked her head up, feeling that something was off. Who would be walking up the gangplank this late at night? Suddenly, one of the strings on the instrument broke, with an odd-sounding _twang_.

_Fuck_, Maya thought to herself as she saw who it was. _Not Admiral Zhao._


	42. Chapter 41

**Author's Note: Hey, guys. Sorry for the wait. Been busy. Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it. This one was hard for me to write, from what I remember. It was difficult getting the right sort of emotion into it. Anyways, read and review! Thanks. - Fira**

_Forty-One_

"So, what happened?" Maya asked excitedly, later that night. Uncle had not let her go down with him and Admiral Zhao to talk to Zuko. She understood why. It would make her seem like someone other than a crewmember. Quietly, she sat beside the fire with the rest of them. She was the only one who had noticed Uncle's quick shake of the head – as it had only been directed at her.

Impatiently, she had waited for ten or so minutes. Then Zhao came back up on deck and walked away down the gangplank. She had waited another three minutes, for good measure, and then vaulted past Uncle down the stairs to Zuko's room, banging loudly on his door.

Now she was standing there in his room, waiting for an answer.

Zuko was furious, pacing angrily back and forth. "He took my crew! To go on some sort of stupid mission to the North Pole! Why the hell does he wanna go _there_, anyways? Ugh!"

"Zuko, think about it," Maya said. "The Avatar needs to master the elements, right? What's the first element on the list?"

"Shit. He's gonna capture the Avatar before I do!" Zuko spun around and slammed his fists against the wall. Then he put his head against it gently and said, "He even figured out that I'm the Blue Spirit."

Maya thought back to her dream of the masked boy chasing Aang around, and flinched when she remembered the feel of her flesh beginning to burn. "So it really _was_ you."

"What?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, remembering that Zuko didn't know that she knew.

He turned to look at her. "What am I going to do?" His eyes were wide, and pained.

This was the most vulnerable she had ever seen him. Even when he had been telling her about his father burning him, he'd been distant. Now, his pain was raw and up close. She felt as if she were intruding. She took a deep breath. "Did you ever think that maybe you were _better_ than your father, Zuko? That you didn't _need_ his approval for you to be a good person? Maybe you should leave this whole Avatar thing behind."

"Not this again!" he shouted. "I'm _not_ giving up my throne!"

"Ah, so it's power you're after," she replied.

"No! That's not it either! Ugh! Just leave me alone! You're giving me another headache!" Zuko turned away and rubbed his temples.

Sighing, she turned to leave. "Sorry for trying to help."

Silently, she left, and shut the door behind her.

* * *

A little while later, Uncle found Maya up on deck. "Why don't you join me for a walk, Maya," he said. "All the crewmembers have already left, so it's a bit lonely. I tried to get Zuko to come, but he would not even talk to me."

"I wonder why…" she muttered sarcastically. Then she gasped. "Wait. You said the crewmembers already left?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Zhao thinks _I'm_ a crewmember. When he doesn't see me with the others, he's going to know we were lying!"

Uncle put his head in hands for a moment. Then he looked up. "Well…" he said slowly. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, let's go enjoy our walk."

"Okay."

Uncle took Maya's arm, which made her giggle. It was a very gentlemanly thing to do. He hummed his _Four Seasons_ song as they walked down the gangplank.

For about half an hour, everything was perfect. Maya continued walking beside Uncle, enjoying the cool night air, even if it was a bit too chilly for her liking. She was beginning to relax a bit, and think about nothing in particular.

That was when the explosion went off.

Maya and Uncle both spun around, and Maya saw immediately that it was Zuko's ship that was on fire. Even as she watched, another explosion went off – and then another. Great chunks of wood flew into the air, along with fluttering pieces of the Fire Navy flag. The heat, even from this far away, was unbearable. She stood and stared for a long moment, uncomprehending. And then a fleeting thought entered her mind. _Zuko's still in there. _Before she knew what she was doing, she had wrenched away from Uncle and was sprinting back to the docks.

Vaguely, as if from a dream, she heard herself screaming at the top of her lungs, "_Zuko! Zuko! No!_"

Tears streamed down her face as she realized with a sickening feeling that _yes_, she _did_ love him. Without knowing it, she continued screaming his name, over and over and over again, hoping that, by sheer force of will, she could _make_ him still be alive. But she knew no one could possibly survive an explosion of such magnitude – let alone _three_.

She screamed again, this time without saying anything. It was a carnal scream, an instinctual scream. It would have frightened her, had she realized she was making it. She thought back to everything that had ever happened between Zuko and her. But she was too distraught to make sense of anything. All she knew was that she loved him. And that he was dead.

She screamed until her voice went out, and then slowly curled into a ball on the deck and cried. She did not notice that Uncle was standing right beside her, crying silently. The pain in her chest went on for what seemed like hours. She couldn't breathe. It consumed her. She had no idea how someone like Zuko could affect her so deeply, but somehow, he did.

And then suddenly, there was a splash beside the docks. Dazed, and with a full-on migraine, Maya looked up. It was as if there was a veil over her vision. Everything was blurry. Probably from crying. And then she heard an, "Unh!" as something pulled itself up out of the water and onto the dock.

"Zuko," she heard Uncle say.

"What?" she croaked, voice still raw from screaming. Suddenly, she sat up and yanked this person – whoever it was – right up close to her.

"Ow!" this person said. "Watch it… I don't know how much more I can take. I think some of my bones might be broken."

It definitely _sounded _like Zuko. "Zuko?" she whispered, not quite believing just yet.

"Yes, it's _me_. Did you forget who I was already?" He sounded weak, and in pain, but it was really him. And he was really alive.

"I'm not dreaming, right?"

"No," Uncle murmured.

That was all she needed to hear. She burst into tears again and fell on top of Zuko, clutching to him, much to his surprise and annoyance. "Zuko," she blubbered.

"_What_? Get off me, Maya! I appreciate that you're glad I'm alive, but I'm kind of in pain right now."

She was suddenly angry, and utterly hysterical. "_You don't understand!_" she screamed, shaking him a little. "_I thought you were dead!_"

For once in his life, Zuko was shocked into silence. He had understood perfectly well what Maya had thought. It was the amount of force and emotion she had put behind the words that had surprised him. He said nothing.

Maya continued to clutch at him, sobbing, feeling hot tears run trails down her face and mix with the cold seawater that was drenching Zuko. She dug her fingernails into his chest and sobbed harder. She had almost lost him. It had almost been too late. And still, she could not tell him. He would never fall for someone like her. She was half Water Tribe. "Zuko," she murmured.

Slowly, she felt his hand rest on her back. It surprised her, as he had never so much as patted her shoulder before. His hand was warm, despite the fact that he had just been swimming in the ocean. Maybe it was his firebending kicking in. "_Maya_," he said quietly, and she could feel his chest reverberate when he spoke. The way he had said her name right then had given her chills. She started shaking even harder. She looked up at him.

"Zuko," she said again.

His eyes softened. "Thank you. For caring about me. I know it hasn't been easy being around me, but… Thank you."

She smiled, and laughed a little, giving a choked sob at the same time. "You're welcome, Zuko."

Still, she could not tell him. Not yet.


	43. Chapter 42

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! Okay, here it is. The moment of truth. Read on to find out. - Fira**

_Forty-two_

Early the next morning, when it was still dark, Maya awoke from a nightmare with a scream and sat up in bed. She was at an inn that Uncle had found in the seaside town where Zuko's ship had exploded. A lot had happened since the night before, and a lot was yet to come. But at the moment, Maya only cared about the fact that Zuko was alive. In fact, that was what the nightmare had been about. She'd dreamt that he hadn't made it, and that his dead body had slowly risen to the surface of the bay facedown, bobbing like a cork.

The door to her bedroom opened, bringing her back to the present. In the dark, Maya could not see his face, but she knew it was Zuko.

"You shouldn't be out of bed, Zuko," she murmured. "You should be resting."

He ignored her, like always. "I heard you scream. Are you okay?"

She smiled without feeling, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "Yeah. I'm fine."

He stepped fully into the bedroom and shut the door. "No. You're lying. I can tell. What's wrong, Maya?"

She did not say anything. They stayed in the darkness together for a few long seconds, and then he said, "I'm _not_ leaving until you tell me."

She laughed, quietly. "Even when you're worrying about me, you're a jerk."

"Thanks. Now tell me."

She sighed. "I had a nightmare. That's all."

"About?"

"I dreamed that you died in the explosion and your body rose to the surface of the water, facedown and bloated. It was horrifying."

"Well, I'm not really dead, so that should make you feel better." Underneath the sarcasm, there was something gentle.

Maya knew that if she didn't tell him now, she would never tell him. "I have to tell you something, Zuko. But I don't know how, because I don't know what your reaction is going to be."

"Just tell me, and if I don't like it, I promise I won't blow anything up."

Maya flinched. That expression hit a bit too close to home, but she knew that Zuko hadn't even been thinking about that when he'd said it, so she took a deep breath and let it go. "Okay…" She took another deep breath. "I… I love you, Zuko." She didn't let him respond. "A-and I know that we don't… know each other that well. And I-I know that I'm not even fully Fire Nation. And… I know that up until a few weeks ago, you and I didn't really get along too well –

"Maya! Shut up for a second."

Surprised at his sudden outburst, she closed her mouth.

He came and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Did you just tell me you love me?"

"… Yes?" she said, hoping he wasn't about to punch her or something. "Is that a problem?"

He gave a single laugh. "_A problem_," he repeated. "I'm such an idiot, aren't I?"

"What?"

"All the signs were right there. But then again, _you_ didn't know it either."

"What are you talking about?"

"Love. What else?"

Maya's heart gave a hopeful leap. "Does this mean you love me too?"

"I _think_ so." He sounded genuinely confused.

She couldn't help but laugh. "Well, it's a start."

He chuckled. "Yeah."

They were silent for a while, sitting beside each other. And then Maya said quietly, "Zuko?"

"What?"

"I want to give you something."

"What is it?"

She leaned toward him, so close that she could feel his breath on her face. "Guess."

He gave a soft chuckle. "I don't have to." And then he leaned the rest of the way and their lips met.

It was a soft, sort of awkward kiss. Neither of them had ever kissed anyone before. Zuko had gotten close once, with a girl back home named Mai. But they'd never actually gotten around to it. And Maya had never even had a crush on a boy before then, though she knew that what she felt for Zuko was a lot stronger than a crush.

And so, it was a little embarrassing and a little exciting for both of them. And after a few moments, they pulled away.

Maya was honestly surprised. Zuko, she knew, was a very physical, very energetic person. She had expected him to be rougher, less gentle. But he had been very kind about it. There had been no tongue, and no shoving. It was a pleasant surprise. She smiled.

After a minute or so in the silence, Zuko sighed. "We should probably go back to sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow."

Maya sighed as well. "Do we _have_ to?"

He laughed. "Don't miss me too much. It's not like I'm going to be in the room right next to you or anything."

Maya smirked. "Okay, Mr. Sarcasm. Good night."

He stood and went to the door, looking over his shoulder at her. "Good night, Maya."


	44. Chapter 43

**Author's Note: ****Hey, guys. Sorry for the wait. I haven't written anything new in the second book of this story for like two weeks, so it's making me hesitant to post these chapters quickly for fear of running out of story. Anyways, here's the next chapter. I'll try to get back to writing. The problem is that I also have to write a paper for college right now - in Psychology. Ugh. Sorry. Don't mean to put my problems up on this post. Enjoy the chapter! - Fira**

_Forty-three_

It was two days after the early morning confession between Maya and Zuko. To Maya, it felt like that had been ages ago. Though, at the same time, her heart still pounded any time she thought about the kiss they had shared. Unfortunately, Maya's current situation did not warrant her much time to daydream. She was, at that very moment, dressed up as a Fire Navy soldier, pretending to be a crewmember aboard Admiral's Zhao's ship.

She was waiting silently in the room that she and Zuko had chosen as a rendezvous point. A few minutes later, someone opened the door. She looked up.

"It's me," Zuko said, taking off his mask. "I just spoke to Uncle. Everything is going according to plan."

"Great," she said, also taking off her mask. "I can't wait to get off this thing."

He grinned at her. "That makes two of us." Slowly, he came forward, and cupped her face in his hands. "_Maya_…"

She shivered. Ever since that night two days ago, he'd said her name differently. His voice deepened when he said, and there was a sort of husky rasp in it that was not usually there. His voice was _always_ raspy to an extent – he just had one of those voices that did that by itself – but this was different. It _meant _something, although she wasn't sure _what_. Normally, it was followed by a kiss. This was one of those times.

He leaned down towards her, and she reached up and placed her hands lightly on his face. She could feel the odd texture of the skin on the left side of his face where his scar was. It did not bother her as much as she thought it might. They kissed. After a few moments, they pulled away. Unfortunately, there was no time to be any more intimate than that, as they still had to act like guards on Zhao's ship.

They put their masks back on. Zuko left the room first. A few minutes later, Maya followed, to make it seem as if they had not gone in together. So far, everything was perfect.

* * *

A few hours later, Maya and Zuko were in a small room with a large open window. Zuko was tightening the ropes tied to the rings on either side of a lifeboat. They were going to use it to escape the ship and find the Avatar. Zuko's good attitude had slowly shifted throughout the course of the day, and at the moment, he was extremely high-strung and anxious. He was afraid of failing. Again.

"Zuko," Maya said gently. "Everything will be all right. I know it. Eventually, it will all follow through." She watched as he only tied the ropes faster. She sighed and placed her hands over his.

He looked up at her and his eyes were desperate. She studied the bruises and cuts on his face that he had acquired from the explosion. She did not know what else to say.

That was when Uncle came in. He cleared his throat. Maya stepped away from Zuko, letting her hands fall back to her sides. Zuko went back to tying the ropes.

"You are fishing for an octopus, my nephew," Uncle said. "You need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest of holes and escape."

Zuko closed his eyes and sighed, not turning to look at him. "I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle."

"I know. I only nag you because… well…" He turned away and closed his eyes. "Ever since I lost my son…"

Maya covered her mouth with her hands. This was something she had not known about Uncle.

"Uncle," Zuko said quietly. "You don't have to say it."

Uncle turned and looked at Zuko again. "I think of you as my own."

Zuko turned also, finally facing him. "I know, Uncle." There was an unreadable emotion in his eyes that was painful to look at.

Maya backed into the corner of the room, feeling as if she were intruding.

"We'll meet again," Zuko said, as Uncle came forward and hugged him. Gently, he pushed the old man away. "_After_ I have the Avatar." He turned and stepped into the lifeboat. "Are you coming, Maya?" he asked, turning to look at her over his shoulder.

She stepped forward. Uncle intercepted her. "You be careful," he said to her, giving her a hug.

"I will."

"And watch after Zuko for me."

She smiled and nodded, following Zuko out the window and into the boat.

"Remember your breath of fire," Uncle called to Zuko as he lowered the boat into the water. "It could save your life out there."

"I will," Zuko said.

"And put your hood up. Both of you. Keep your ears warm!"

"I'll be fine!" Zuko called back, sounding exasperated.

When they hit the water, Zuko let go of the ropes.

"One more thing," Maya said to him.

He sighed. "What _now_?"

She laughed and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him. He returned the kiss. After a moment, she pulled away and said, "For good luck."

He smiled at her.


	45. Chapter 44

_Forty-four_

It had been a difficult journey so far. Maya's arms were burning from the paddling they had done to get to the little ice island they were on now. Once they had almost been seen by the guard in a watchtower. It was cold. But Maya did not complain. She'd seen plenty of hardship before. This was just something she had to do. She waited as Zuko peeked around the side of the iceberg jutting up in front of them. He sighed and turned around. "I don't have a clue how we're going to get past the guards."

That was when Maya heard the sound of barking seal-turtles behind her. She turned to look. There was a group of three of them surrounding a hole in the ice. One after the other, they jumped into the hole and disappeared below the water. Zuko went over to it. "They have to be coming up for air somewhere," he murmured.

He pulled the mask down off of his face and took a deep breath, getting ready to dive in.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Maya said quickly. "What if it's too far away? Seal-turtles can hold their breath for half an hour if they have to. You and I can't do that."

He turned to look at her. "What choice do we have? Look around. Do you see a better option?"

She sighed and went over to him, knowing that he was right.

"I promise as long as you stay close to me, nothing bad will happen to you."

"How do you know?"

"… I don't. But I promised, didn't I? Now, come on. We're wasting time." With that, he took a deep breath and dived into the hole.

A moment later, Maya followed him.

Twenty seconds later, Maya's head popped up out of another hole and she climbed onto the ground beside Zuko, who was lying there and shivering. She was freezing too. She curled into a ball and shook violently, wishing – not for the first time – that she could firebend. She watched enviously as Zuko exhaled flame a few times and stopped shivering. He rolled over to get up, and then looked at Maya, who was still curled into a ball.

"Oh," he said. "You can't firebend."

"R-r-really?" she chattered. "I d-d-didn't n-notice."

He laughed quietly. "Come here, Maya." Without waiting, he leaned down over the top of her and pressed his lips to hers, opening her mouth with his own. She blushed. It was a very suggestive moment. He did not seem to notice. He took a deep breath through his nose and slowly exhaled into her mouth. She was surprised. His breath was _warm_, like the wafting heat from a fire. It spread through her body. Down to her stomach and then to her arms and legs. At the same time, he moved his hands over her arms and hands, warming them up even more.

After about a minute, she was feeling nice and toasty, and part of it had nothing to do with Zuko's _breath of fire._ She sat up and felt the blush in her cheeks all the way to her hairline. She laughed nervously. "When Uncle said _breath of fire_, I didn't know he meant it literally, although I should've guessed."

Zuko chuckled. "Come on, Maya."

He helped her to her feet and they continued on. They only walked a few feet before realizing that there was nowhere else to go. The cave ended abruptly. Maya looked around for some sort of an exit, and noticed a natural water fountain spouting from the top of the cave. "Look," she said. "That water has to be coming from somewhere."

"You're right," Zuko said. "Come on."

"Let's hope this is as easy as it was last time."

The two of them struggled up the waterfall, clutching to the sides of the hole to keep from being blown backwards by the force of the water. Maya could feel her oxygen depleting rapidly. Finally, they made it past the suction of the water and swam upwards. Maya was seeing stars and her lungs were burning. She felt Zuko yank her upwards without remembering ever stopping swimming. Instinctively, she took a gasp of breath and was surprised to find that it was _air_ she was breathing. They had found a small gap in the roof of the cave they were in that the water did not reach. For a few moments they stayed there, taking sweet gasps of oxygen. And then, when Maya could see again, they continued their journey.

Zuko had spotted a let-off in the cave system that he guessed led to another opening. Even if it didn't, they couldn't stay there forever. They each took as big a breath as they could and swam up the small tunnel. Maya looked up and saw the light above her. She would have sighed with relief if she could have. And then something horrible happened.

Zuko slammed into the light. At first, Maya was confused. And then she realized with dread that a thick layer of ice had covered the hole. They were trapped, and neither of them had enough oxygen to swim back to the top of the other cave from there. They were going to drown.

Vaguely, for it was hard to formulate thoughts at this point, Maya thought, _What a horrible way to die._ Her lungs begged for air, and she resisted the urge to intake water. And then, as her vision darkened again, for the last time, she felt a tug and heard Zuko gasp as his head popped up from the ice.

* * *

Maya awoke slowly. She immediately clutched at her head. She had a migraine. It was so bad that she felt nauseous. She groaned.

"It's from lack of air," said a voice.

"Zuko," she croaked. "Did I die?"

He laughed a little. "No. But you were unconscious."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"Because I'm weak."

He laughed again. "No you're not. I almost passed out, too. We're both lucky I didn't, otherwise we'd be dead right now."

"Where are we?"

"Sitting in some ice alcove right near the wall of the city."

Maya looked up – and immediately blushed. She was lying on top of Zuko. She could feel his arms around her. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Keeping you warm," he said simply. "What else?"

"Shouldn't we keep moving?"

"I want to capture the Avatar way more than you do, and I'm going to tell you right now that we both need rest."

Sighing with relief, she rested her head on Zuko's chest, where it had been before she had woken up. "When did you become the voice of reason between us?"

"When I started listening to you."

She smiled, too tired to laugh. "Thank you for saving me, Zuko."

"You're welcome, Maya."


	46. Chapter 45

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! I'm here with another chapter AND another list of people to thank! So here goes. Thank you to these people for favorting and following my story: ****Emotionless Girl32, ****NightSky98, ****Nube2013, ****The One I Use To Know, ****xxxANIMExROCKSxxx, ****InTheWrongEra, ****ReadAholic94, and ****Yoshizawa Ayumu. You guys are great and inspire me to push on! Thank you so much and I am flattered that so many people are enjoying this story. We're almost to the end of Book One! (Again, as before, those people who I have already listed in previous thank you notes are not listed here - but that does not mean I appreciate you any less). Enjoy the chapter! - Fira**

_Forty-Five_

Finally. Maya could see Aang sitting there on the grass, meditating. His eyes and tattoos were glowing. Maya figured he was probably communicating with the Spirits or something, since he didn't even seem to be breathing. He was still as a statue and completely unreactive to anything around him.

Maya wasn't particularly _happy_ about this situation, but she knew that Zuko's goal was directly in front of him now. And, as much as she hated herself for it, she wasn't going to try to stop him from capturing the Avatar. Just as she'd done before, she was going to stay out of the way – unless someone tried to _kill_ anyone.

"Well," Zuko said, standing from his hiding place and breaking into Maya's thoughts. "Aren't you a big girl now."

Maya was confused for a second, thinking that he was talking to her. Then she noticed the other two people in this little sanctuary. Katara was here, along with some white-haired girl in fancy clothes. The white-haired girl screamed and ran away. Katara just said, so quietly that Maya almost didn't hear her, "No…"

"Yes," Zuko replied.

Maya stood and walked beside Zuko. Katara glared at her. "You too, huh?"

Maya held up her hands in surrender and backed away. "I'm just here to intervene if either of you goes for blood. That's all. Anything else that happens will happen. Fight on."

Zuko and Katara faced each other. Maya didn't know who made the first move, but she could tell immediately that Katara's waterbending skills were extremely impressive. They fought back and forth, neither of them gaining the upper hand for very long. And then Katara began making windmill motions with her arms and there were big columns of water surrounding Zuko. Then she froze the water and he was encased in a giant ball of ice.

Maya was about to intervene, afraid that Katara had not given him space to breathe, but then she heard Zuko's voice muffled inside the ice. "You little peasant," he said.

Maya choked on laughter. What the hell _was_ it with Zuko and the word _peasant_?

"You've found a master, haven't you?" he continued.

And then Maya noticed that the ball of ice was slowly turning a red-orange color. Suddenly, the ice shattered, and she ducked so as not to be cut by it. And then the two were fighting again. At some point, Zuko managed to knock Katara down long enough to grab Aang's collar, but a split-second later, he was on his back from a particularly forceful blow from Katara. Secretly, Maya was impressed.

Before Zuko could stand completely, Katara was pushing him farther and farther away with her waterbending, until suddenly he was up in the air, held aloft by a blast of water that Katara quickly froze in place. Now Zuko was trapped. He couldn't use his hands or feet to firebend. He looked beaten.

* * *

It was a little boring after that. They all sat there for about ten minutes. Katara couldn't leave because Aang was still in his glowy-spirit-meditating-thing, and Maya couldn't leave because Zuko was still ten feet off the ground and covered in ice. So, they sat. And waited. No one said a word. It was actually quite peaceful, despite the circumstances under which all of this had happened. Maya smiled to herself. Why couldn't they all have nice moments like this more often?

The lightening of the sky heralded the coming dawn. She looked up, at the same time as Zuko. He inhaled deeply, and when he exhaled, steam came through his nostrils and the ice holding him in place melted. Katara didn't notice, and Maya didn't say anything. It wasn't her job to help or hinder anyone. Unless – again – someone was going for blood and murder.

_When did it become my job to police people, anyways?_ she asked herself.

Zuko suddenly let out a burst of fire from his fist. Katara turned around just in time to get the full blast of it. The fireball knocked her backwards into a tree, and she hit her head and did not get back up. Quickly, while Zuko grabbed Aang, Maya went over to Katara and put two fingers to her neck. Her heartbeat was steady. She sighed with relief and stepped back.

"You rise with the moon," Zuko said.

Maya turned and saw that he was looking at Katara.

"_I_ rise with the sun." With that, he yanked Aang up onto his back and carried him out of the sanctuary, calling behind him, "Come on, Maya. Time to go."


	47. Chapter 46

**Author's Note: Hey, guys. Sorry for the wait. And sorry for the fluff towards the end of this chapter. I've been waiting so long to get to write fluff that I've gotta add it in where I can... - Fira**

_Forty-six_

Maya was freezing, and it was becoming progressively harder to move in the knee-deep snow. She looked over at Zuko, and felt bad. At least _she_ didn't have to carry another person on her back. He was still trudging along with Aang. Somehow, they had managed to slip out of the city unnoticed, but Maya was beginning to doubt this particular plan of action, since now she was afraid that they were all going to freeze to death.

At the moment, they were actually up above the city, whose walls, it seemed, were carved out of a giant continent of ice. Maya was so cold that she could not even think properly, and so she gave in to the constant plodding of her feet through snow. Suddenly, there was a sharp _crack_, and the ground beneath her feet shifted. Apparently one of them had stepped in a bad spot and now the ice was breaking apart.

Quickly, they both struggled through the snow, trying to outrun the massive hole that was forming in the ice, threatening to swallow them up. For a few terrifying seconds, Maya didn't think they would make it. And then, with a last shudder, the ice stopped breaking, and they stumbled forward and fell, sprawling in the snow, glad to be alive.

"Zuko?" Maya called, face-up on the ice.

"I'm okay," he said. "You?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "Aang?"

"Why should I care?"

She sighed. "Just go check him, will you? Then come back and help me up."

"Fine."

A few moments passed while Zuko checked on Aang, and then she saw him come over to her. He held out his hand. She took it, and was grateful. Once she was back on her feet, they both turned to look at what had happened, and gasped. Before them lay a vast crater where the ice had cracked and split open.

After a long moment of shocked silence, Maya said quietly, "That was a bit too close for me."

"Yeah," Zuko said. "Glad we made it."

Maya turned to survey the landscape. Not too far away, she spotted a dark shape in the snow. She realized, with relief, that it was a cave. "Look," she said, pointing.

Zuko looked. "Shelter…" he exhaled, also obviously relieved. "Come on."

They made their way to the cave as quickly as they could, which, admittedly, was not very quick at all. They were still knee-deep in snow and the blizzard was whipping wind and ice into their faces. Finally, the reached their destination.

A few minutes later, Zuko had a little fire going. He dragged Aang along the floor with him and dropped him unceremoniously as he sat down. Maya winced when Aang's head hit the ground. "You're not very nice to him," she commented quietly.

"Gee, I wonder why," Zuko replied. He looked at Aang, who was still out of it, tattoos glowing. "I finally have you," Zuko said, and he stood up again and looked outside. "But I can't get you home because of this blizzard. There's always something… Not that you would understand. You're like my sister. Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy. Everyone _adores_ her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be _born_."

Zuko paused. Maya wondered if he even realized he was speaking out loud.

"I don't need luck, though," he continued softly. "I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight, and that's made me _strong_. That's made me who I _am_." He turned away from the blizzard, eyes closed, as if pained.

"Zuko," Maya said gently. She did not know how to comfort him, so she said, "Come sit beside the fire. It's too cold for you to be so close to the entrance."

He stood there for a moment longer, head bowed, eyes closed, with a frown across his face, and then he turned and came to her, sitting down beside her. "You shouldn't be with me, Maya. You don't _want_ to be with someone like me."

"Nonsense," she responded immediately. "Enough talk. We have to save our energy."

And so they sat, watching the fire, backs turned to the storm. At some point, Maya reached slowly to take Zuko's hand. She was still iffy on that sort of thing, as Zuko was not a very outwardly affectionate person. He didn't do anything for a moment, and then he turned towards her and took both of her hands in his, and brought them to his lips, and blew on them.

A small spurt of flame came from his mouth, and a flash of Maya's father came into her mind. She gave a yelp and yanked her hands away, only to look at them and see that he had not burned her. Her hands were not even red.

"Maya," he said. "Do you think that after everything we've said to each other about our pasts that I would ever intentionally burn you? I'm not _that_ much of an asshole. Don't you trust me?"

She looked down, ashamed and embarrassed. He was right, of course. "Sorry. It was instinctual."

"I know. Give me your hands, Maya. I'll warm them up."

She blushed. "Couldn't you just do the _breath of fire_ again?"

"That's what I _was_ doing," he said, sounding confused.

She looked up, and then down again, embarrassed now for a different reason. "No, I mean… like before."

He was utterly silent for longer than necessary, so she looked up at him. He was grinning at her.

"Ah. I see." Slowly, he scooted closer to her. He released a breath of air onto her face. It was warm. He put a hand behind her head and pulled her close to him. She could feel the heat wafting from his body. Somehow, it was attractive, and she blushed more. And then his lips were against hers, and she heard him inhale slowly through his nose. And then he released the breath, and she felt warmth spreading through her body.

The warmth made her drowsy, and she relaxed against him. At some point – Maya wasn't sure when – Zuko's _breath of fire_ became a kiss. She felt his fingers in her hair. She thought, for a moment, to return the gesture, until she remembered that Zuko didn't _have_ much hair. She snorted laughter against the kiss, and he pulled away, looking slightly annoyed.

"Sorry," she said, quickly swallowing back more laughter. "Just thinking something random."

And that was when Aang decided to wake up.


	48. Chapter 47

_Forty-seven_

Zuko turned from Maya, noticing Aang's return before she did. He stood up, just as Aang looked at him.

"Welcome back," Zuko said.

Aang glared. "Good to _be_ back."

Maya knew what he was about to do, and tried to grab Zuko's wrist to yank him out of the way, but it was too late. Aang released the breath he had been holding, which slammed Zuko into the wall of the cave. At the same time, Aang shot backwards out of the entrance and rolled in the snow.

Maya quickly stood up and helped Zuko to his feet. Then they both chased after Aang, who was trying to wiggle his way through the snow like an inchworm. If it hadn't been such a serious moment, Maya would have found it funny. In another moment, Zuko had Aang by the collar, and picked him up.

"That won't be enough to escape," he said.

Suddenly Aang smiled and shouted, "Appa!"

"Crap," Maya muttered, looking up. Sure enough, there was the Giant Fluff-Monster.

When it landed, Katara jumped down from the saddle and faced Zuko. Zuko promptly threw Aang into the snow and got into a fighting stance. "Here for a rematch?" he asked.

"Trust me, Zuko," she said, contempt clear in her voice. "It's not going to be much of a match."

He shot a single fireball at her, which was quickly nullified by a water shield. And then Katara lifted her hands and Maya watched as the patch of snow that Zuko was standing on lifted into the air and became a column of ice. A second later, she lowered her hands and the ice lowered itself back to the ground at top speed, slamming Zuko into the snow so hard that it knocked him out.

Maya, who had been standing to the side, quickly went over to him and checked that he was still breathing. And then, afraid of what the others might do, she shielded Zuko's body with her own.

Meanwhile, Sokka got down off of Appa's saddle and cut Aang loose from the bindings that Zuko had put him in. "This is some quality rope," he commented, as if that was the most important thing in the world right at that moment.

"We need to get to the oasis," Aang said, completely ignoring him. "The Spirits are in trouble."

That got Maya's attention. "What do you mean?" she asked. But no one answered her.

And then Aang looked back at her, and then at Zuko. He paused. "Wait," he said. "We can't just leave them here."

"Sure we can," Sokka said. "Let's go."

"_No_. If we leave them, they'll _die_." He hopped down off of Appa and helped Maya to her feet.

She let him take Zuko onto his back and then allowed him to grab her hand so that he could airbend them all onto Appa.

"Sure," Sokka replied sarcastically. "Let's _bring_ the two people who are constantly trying to kill us."

"I don't think _she's_ ever tried," Aang said, as Appa flew off. He turned to look at Maya. "_Have_ you?"

"No, I haven't," Maya said, feeling awkward. She'd never really spoken to any of these people before.

"Why are you helping Zuko?" Katara demanded. She was very angry.

"Because he needs help," Maya replied, raising an eyebrow at Katara. "But I am _not_ helping him capture you, Aang," she said, looking back at the boy with the arrow on his head. "I'm _trying_ to get him to realize that he shouldn't be chasing after you in the first place, but Zuko is stubborn. Don't worry, though. I'll keep trying."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Sokka asked.

Maya sighed. "I suppose you don't. You're just going to have to trust me."

Right at that moment, the sky took on a blood-red hue. Everyone looked up. The moon had turned red. "What the _fuck_," Maya said.

The girl with the white hair and the fancy clothes put her head in her hands. Maya hadn't noticed she was even there until right then. "I feel faint," she said weakly.

"I feel it, too," Aang said, putting a hand to his head. "The Moon Spirit is in trouble."

"I owe the Moon Spirit my life," the girl said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked.

"When I was born," the girl began, "I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I were asleep, my eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father that I was going to die. My father pleaded with the Spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white. I opened my eyes and began to cry, and they knew I would live. That's why my mother named me Yuwe, For the Moon."

Everyone was silent after that, absorbing what Yuwe had said. In a few minutes, they had arrived back at the oasis. Quickly, Maya could see that it was Admiral Zhao who had threatened the Moon Spirit. He was holding a wiggling sack and talking about being called the Moon-slayer. Maya wondered for a moment what could possibly be in the sack. That's when she remembered the koi fish in the pond from before, when Zuko had first taken Aang. She looked down into the pond. The black koi fish was alone, and swimming frantically in no discernible pattern.

_So the Moon Spirit is a koi fish?_ Maya thought. _Well, shit. Now what?_

Obviously, Aang and his friends had an idea. They all hopped off of Appa and got into a ready stance. Maya followed them. She was not about to let Zhao destroy the Moon Spirit.

He laughed. "Don't bother," he said, raising the sack and pointing a fist at it, ready to destroy it with a blast of fire.

"Zhao," Aang said, dropping his staff and putting his hands out in front of him. "_Don't_."

"It's my destiny," Zhao murmured, as if talking to only himself. "To destroy the Moon. _And_ the Water Tribe."

"Destroying the Moon won't hurt _just_ the Water Tribe," Aang said. "It will hurt _everyone_, including you. Without the Moon, _everything _would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world!"

"He is right, Zhao," said a voice off to the side.

Everyone turned to see who it was. Maya breathed a sigh of relief. Uncle.

"General Iroh," Zhao said, in the most condescending tone he could muster. "Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"

"I'm no traitor, Zhao," Uncle said. "The Fire Nation needs the Moon, too. We _all_ depend on the balance." Uncle could see, along with everyone else there, that Zhao was not going to give this up. He tried a different tactic. "Whatever you do to that Spirit," he said angrily, pointing a finger at Zhao, "I'll unleash on you _ten-fold_! Let it go _now_!"

And, for a moment, it seemed all would end calmly. Maya watched as the anger slowly drained from Zhao's face. He dropped to his knees and gently released the koi fish back into its pond. She heard everyone there sigh with relief at the same time. The Moon returned to its pale white color. Maya smiled.

And then she looked up in horror as Zhao released a scream of anger, rose to his feet and slashed a line of fire into the pond. Everything was extremely bright for a moment, and then all went utterly dark. Maya could feel tears in her eyes already. She looked up. The moon was gone.


	49. Chapter 48

**Hey, guys! I'm going to upload the last two chapters of _Maya_! I'll be uploading the first chapter of the next book pretty soon. I'll give you more details about that at the end of chapter forty-nine. Enjoy! - Fira**

_Forty-eight_

"_No!_" Maya screamed, as the sky blackened.

In the same moment, she saw bursts of fire come from over where Uncle was standing. And then another, and another. In the short moments in which the fire flared, she could see what was happening. Uncle had taken it upon himself to single-handedly kill every guard surrounding Zhao so that he could get to him.

Maya ran over to help, but by the time she got there, all the guards were down and Zhao had already disappeared. "_Coward_!" Maya yelled into the night.

Uncle placed a hand on her shoulder, and they went slowly over to the pond. Uncle bent down and gently scooped up the white fish into his hands. It was dead.

"There's no hope now," Yuwe said, her voice thick with tears. "It's _over_."

Suddenly, Aang began to glow. "No," he said, and within his voice, Maya could hear a thousand voices. "It's not over." He went forward, and stepped into the pond. There he stood, eyes and tattoos aglow, as the Ocean Spirit, the black koi fish, circled him. And then, it stopped, and began to glow as well. Aang and the fish seemed to be looking at each other, and then suddenly Aang disappeared into the water.

Maya gasped. The pond began to glow with a bright white light, and the light spread outward from it. Maya realized with a shock that the water was moving as if it were alive, lifting itself out of the outer pond that surrounded the smaller one, and moving onto dry land. It began assembling itself into a blob-like shape, and then the blob-like shape became… _a fish_. A giant fish. Maya squinted. She could see that somewhere in the middle of the Fish was Aang. He was controlling it.

Maya and the others stared open-mouthed as the Fish began walking through the city, fighting off the Fire Nation soldiers. Maya ran to follow it, and then stopped. She turned, looking around for Zuko. And she saw that he was not with them. She ran over to Appa and climbed onto his saddle. Zuko was not there.

She ran back to Uncle. "Uncle!" she said, but stopped. He was kneeling beside the pond. He lowered the fish back into the water.

"It's too late," Katara said quietly. "It's dead."

Uncle sighed, keeping hold of the koi, and looked down. And then he turned his head slightly and caught sight of Yuwe. Maya wasn't quite sure what clued him in. She guessed it was her white hair. But, whatever it was, he said, "You have been touched by the Moon Spirit. Some of its life is in _you_."

Yuwe looked up. "Yes. You're right. It gave me life." She paused, and looked down, as if deciding something. Then she looked up again, and Maya could see resolve in her eyes. "Maybe I can give it back." She stood up.

But before she could take a step, Sokka grabbed her hand. "_No_!" he said. "You don't have to do that."

"It's my duty, Sokka," she said quietly, not looking at him.

"I won't let you," he said. "Your father told me to protect you!"

"I have to do this," she said.

Maya turned away slightly, feeling as if she were intruding. After a moment, she looked again.

Yuwe's hands were on the fish. Her eyes glowed for a second, and then they closed and she sighed and fell.

"_No_!" Sokka said, for the second time. He caught her as she fell and held her body close to his. "She's gone," he said quietly. "She's gone." He hugged her.

Maya felt tears sting her eyes, though she wasn't sure why. She didn't even know Yuwe.

But then something strange happened. Yuwe's body disappeared, and the koi fish in Uncle's hands began to glow. It had worked. Uncle quickly lowered the fish back into the water, and they all watched as the water glowed. The glow lifted itself up out of the water and materialized into a translucent image of Yuwe.

She came forward and looked at Sokka. "Goodbye Sokka," she said. Her voice echoed. "I'll always be with you." They kissed for a moment, and then Yuwe disappeared again, and Sokka was left staring into the sky at the place where she used to be.

Everyone looked up and smiled as the Moon returned to the sky, lighting up the world once more.


	50. Chapter 49

**Author's Note: Here is it. The final chapter! Enjoy. - Fira**

_Forty-nine_

Only a few hours had passed since the incident at the North Pole. Maya, Uncle, and Zuko were standing aboard the remains of a boat. All that was left was a measly single sail and the floor. They were all exhausted.

Zuko had met up with Maya and Uncle outside the city, after they had all spent way too much time looking for each other. Now, here they were, drifting on the sea. They had no food and no water, and little chance of getting back to a civilization that didn't hate them. Obviously, the Northern Water Tribe was out, as Zuko and Uncle were both Fire Nation, and half their city had been destroyed by the Fire Navy.

Maya opted to sit down, so that at the very least, she could rest her legs. Uncle sighed and began to try and work the sail somehow. While he was fiddling with the ropes, he said, "I'm surprised, Prince Zuko. Surprised that you are not at this very moment trying to capture the Avatar."

"I'm tired," Zuko replied.

Uncle came up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then you should rest. A man _needs_ his rest."

Zuko's eyes closed and he lay down on the floor. Maya noticed he looked uneasy. She went over to him and lay down beside him. Briefly, he turned his head and gave a weary smile, and then he closed his eyes again and slept.

Maya tried to sleep as well. Before she fell asleep, she wondered where they were going. And she wondered if Zuko would ever figure out that chasing Aang wasn't the best thing in the world. She smiled. Zuko. Who would've thought? A Water Tribe-Fire Nation girl with the son of the Fire Lord. She still didn't quite believe it. She fell asleep, a smile on her lips.

* * *

_Maya dreamed. It was a strange dream. There was a lot of fire involved. She was looking at a scene from the background. All she could see was a massive wall of fire on the far end of the room she was in, and a figure kneeling before it. Suddenly, the figure turned and looked at Maya. He smiled. It was Zuko, except he didn't have a scar. And the smile on his face was eerie and malicious. He came up to her, and when he spoke, it was with a girl's voice. He said, "I'm coming for you, Zuko."_

END BOOK ONE

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, first I've got a few last minute people to thank: ****EvilWereWolf18, ****Stalona, ****nicole rae, ****xxfluffychickxx, and ****xxfluffyxx123. **

**Second, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT OVER THE MONTHS! I can never say that enough. Seriously, guys. I love you all.**

**Third, I am currently on the eighth chapter of the next book. The next book is going to be called _Refugees_. In the description, I'll put _Sequel to Maya_. Look for it in the next couple of days. I might even upload it right after this. The chapters are going to be slightly longer. I'm trying really hard to put more detail, etc into them. I work hard for you guys! Jeez... I never thought I'd end up so popular. It's flattering.**

**So, remember: Next book is called _Refugees._ And I hope to see you all there!**

**Thank you. - Fira**


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